Not that I want to spend time defending the NSA, but back then collecting all data happened because it was the easiest thing to do, more as a reaction than an actual solution to certain threats.
When society has no great way of preventing, let's say for example, the Boston Marathon bombing or the Las Vegas Concert shooting, providing an appearance of activity, however mindless, like a bunch of ants feverishly running around when a stone is thrown into the anthill, is just the default setting of the security establishment. You can't blame them for that because we aren't yet psychologically, socially or politically sophisticated enough to do anything better.
But today after collecting and sitting on top of shitloads of useless data they themselves admit its unnecessary. You don't find who the best Tennis player in the neighborhood is by monitoring the entire neighborhoods conversations but by just watching the local tennis courts.
What you can do is ask why it took so long, with that nudge from Snowden, for the establishment to admit this. That kind of questioning prevents them jumping into further "we can do it so lets do it" bullshit projects down the road.
When society has no great way of preventing, let's say for example, the Boston Marathon bombing or the Las Vegas Concert shooting, providing an appearance of activity, however mindless, like a bunch of ants feverishly running around when a stone is thrown into the anthill, is just the default setting of the security establishment. You can't blame them for that because we aren't yet psychologically, socially or politically sophisticated enough to do anything better.
But today after collecting and sitting on top of shitloads of useless data they themselves admit its unnecessary. You don't find who the best Tennis player in the neighborhood is by monitoring the entire neighborhoods conversations but by just watching the local tennis courts.
What you can do is ask why it took so long, with that nudge from Snowden, for the establishment to admit this. That kind of questioning prevents them jumping into further "we can do it so lets do it" bullshit projects down the road.