Edward Snowden, the person who leaked the National Security Administration documents, has set off a public dialogue of sweeping proportion, bringing substantial changes to the way in which the American press operates, and raising questions as to whether laws should be changed with respect to gathering data.
Addressing a February 3 Boston meeting of the Amicus Club of the Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, New York Times writer and Yale Law School lecturer Emily Bazelon exhorted civil libertarians to sometimes embrace the actions of “rabble-rousers” as a counter-balance to excessive exercise of governmental power.
High points:
In the FISA courts that pass upon use of this collected data, there is no presentation of an opposing view (the view in favor of privacy), the proceedings are not public and the opinions are not published. Snowden has allowed us to obtain some of the FISA opinions, which in turn has led to some suggestions, including one on the part of the President, that some sort of representation for the privacy position ought to be integral to the actions of this “court.”
There is pending legislation to affect the powers of NSA, but the future of that legislation is unclear. Judge Leon, of the Federal District Court in Washington, has opined that the present method of collecting data is probably unconstitutional, noting that the government has never shown that it’s data collection program has actually prevented any particular event. NSA’s power was established to gather information in the fight against terrorism, and not for other purposes.
Glenn Greenwald of the Guardian, the journalist who has been championing Snowden’s position and who first published the NSA information, has challenged the general assumption that a good reporter needs to avoid becoming an advocate for any particular cause, but should maintain a “critical distance.”
In response to a question concerning unregulated data collection by commercial US enterprises, Bazelon agreed that there was substantial risk that the government would gain access. The Europeans have a different tradition: skeptical of commercial enterprises generally, they thus are skeptical about their collection of “commercial” data. She is not optimistic that there will be a change of United States law with regard to private data collection, although some larger American companies now are pushing for limitations lest the lack of protection impact their international business.
An informal inspection of the audience for this program indicated that more than 60% of attendees sported “gray hair.” The attendees, at a lunch-time program in downtown Boston, did not reflect the demographics of the vicinity (not to mention the demographics of Boston at large). Civil liberties issues, even those in the forefront such as NSA data programs, do not seem to light a fire under “younger generations.”