NSA or Secret Police?

The US Government has outright lied to the public about its surveillance programs and despite the presidents request for some transparency in the way data is collected and used, there has been little political movement against the NSA's defiance of privacy laws.  An internet terms of service would be a great way to provide the transparency the public desires if the mindset of security trumping privacy did not run rampant in the politicians who would be designing it.  The amount of data and metadata that is collected on the average Joe can be analyzed to paint a scarily complete picture about their activities and habits.  The public is unaware in the ways they are being monitored, such as through turned off cellphones which gives the government  the potential for a massive abuse of power.  Warrants are generally used to examine a person's private life and yet there is no judicial oversight of the private digital information that is being massively horded.  An organization that massively gathers data on the public should not be left to monitor themselves, despite the "checks and balances" they claim to have.  There is the argument that if you have nothing to hide then why should you be scared of government oversight.  Context can be used to completely change the meaning of data and can be abused if the government wants it to be, whether for political or personal reasons.

The NSA has been known to illegally tip off local police units and instruct them to lie about their information (src: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jennifergranick/2013/08/14/nsa-dea-irs-lie-about-fact-that-americans-are-routinely-spied-on-by-our-government-time-for-a-special-prosecutor-2/).  The government claims that their spying operations are only to protect the US from terrorists; however, the NSA has used this information to bypass due process, effectively making them serve as a sort of secret police.  If you have heard of groups such as the Gestapo or KGB, then you should understand how these sorts of groups should not belong within a nation that claims to stand for freedom and democracy.   An internet terms of service would be a great way to make it clear to the public the many ways in which their privacy is being blatantly ignored; however, politicians are drinking the "best for defense" kool aid because they don't understand technology (remember SOPA and CISPA?).  Edward Snowden did the US a great service by making the secret policing that has been going on clear to the public and it would be a shame to see his sacrifice go to waste through an ill advised ToS.


As an added bonus, here is a former Stasi captain's remark's about the NSA.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/06/27/former-east-german-secret-police-captain-says-nsa-spying-a-dream-come-true/