As of Sunday, Nov. 29, 2015, the National Security Agency will no longer have the authority to collect metadata from Americans' phones. This is a result of Congress not continuing the effects of the Patriot Act, which allowed the NSA to do this in the name of terrorist investigations. With the the new USA Freedom Act, the government must have a warrant for a more "focused and targeted approach" to outing suspected terrorists. The new legislation is congruent with the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution, which prohibits searches without a warrant and probable cause.
For those who do not know: the government has been spying on us for years. They have been collecting metadata on who we call, their number, how long the call lasted, and when it started and ended. This was revealed by whistleblower Edward Snowden, who is now hiding in Russia to avoid prosecution of the three felony charges of which he has been accused. He also revealed that the NSA was trying to monitor the emails and Internet activity of Americans.
The NSA could also use people's mobile phones to track their location. This is useful for investigating terrorists, but rends innocent Americans uncomfortable. The ethics of this surveillance have been debated for some time. Counterterrorism experts say that little to no acts of domestic terrorism have been prevented by the metadata that the NSA collects. They feel that defending the Patriot Act is a method of fear-mongering, making Americans feel like there is an enemy among them wherever they turn, and that they must submit their right to privacy as a result.
Now, the NSA has lost this authority to collect such information on all Americans. While such surveillance is a useful tool in theory, it has shown little success and only served to make Americans feel paranoid and like they lived in a dystopian country that did not trust them. The tool will now be used in terms of the Constitution, which requires a warrant. Moreover, the "focused and targeted" approach is necessary and crucial for ameliorated terrorist investigations and chases. This will exhibit an interesting change in the way we deal with terrorism in the future.
However, one must wonder what this means for Edward Snowden. The ex-contracter for the NSA has stated that he would like to come home to his country and would be fine with going to jail, but he would not want to just be a sheep to the system.
“I care more about the country than what happens to me. But we can’t allow the law to become a political weapon or agree to scare people away from standing up for their rights, no matter how good the deal." -- Edward Snowden
What would sentence Snowden to prison is the Espionage Act, which forbids revealing information that serves as espionage or conflicts with military operations and/or foreign relations. It was passed during World War I, so Snowden argues that it is obsolete, since it does not consider whether the reveal of information may benefit the public.
"The Espionage Act finds anyone guilty who provides any information to the public, regardless of whether it is right or wrong. You aren't even allowed to explain to a jury what your motivations were for revealing this information. It is simply a question of, 'Did you reveal information?' If yes, you go to prison for the rest of your life." -- Edward Snowden
It shall be interesting to see if the repeal of the Patriot Act shall pardon Snowden's crimes, or if the government will take an absolutist approach and punish him anyway. One may only hope that he shall be forgiven and not reduced to a martyr, and that he may continue to be an active figure in the political sphere as he has been since his whistle blowing and flight.
