Mass surveillance, whether you approve of it morally, is not practical. It does not enhance the safety of the American people.
The results are in:
only twice during that four-year period did the program generate unique information that the F.B.I. did not already possess, said the study, which was produced by the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board and briefed to Congress on Tuesday. “Based on one report, F.B.I. vetted an individual, but, after vetting, determined that no further action was warranted,” the report said. “The second report provided unique information about a telephone number, previously known to U.S. authorities, which led to the opening of a foreign intelligence investigation.”
The report did not reveal the subject matter of the one significant F.B.I. investigation that was spurred by the Freedom Act program, and it did not divulge its outcome.
As an expenditure of tax dollars, mass surveillance was a virtually complete waste of my money.
Source: N.S.A. Phone Program Cost $100 Million, but Produced Only Two Unique Leads – The New York Times
