I'm not outraged over the NSA spying program (yet), but before I get to that, I have some thoughts on our perceptions of privacy.
It seems incredible to imagine, but back in the 1990's when Caller ID technology began to make its way into the hands of consumers, it was very controversial, and considered by many to be an invasion of privacy. This was before cell phones. You would actually buy a little device that plugged into your land line that displayed the incoming number (I used to have one). Take a look at this 1990 article from the Florida Sun Sentinel after the swishy:
Government use of controversial new telephone technology coming to Florida violates state and federal wiretap laws, some members of Congress and some utility regulators say.
Big Brother will be tracing your phone number when Caller ID begins operating in Florida this summer, these critics say. The new technology, if left unrestricted, for the first time will allow recipients of calls to know the phone numbers of callers. Using other methods, persons called can match phone numbers with addresses.
"Government can't use it without first getting a warrant. That would be illegal," said Keenan Peck, a staff member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. "You wouldn't want the IRS to know your phone number if you call for tax advice. You wouldn't want to be audited just because you called. That would severely chill First Amendment rights."
I don't mean to suggest that all your security fears will look quaint in time. I'm just pointing out that perceptions and concerns do tend to change.
More on those perceptions. Most people, I think, would like email to be treated with the same privacy as postal mail. And yet, it seems an invasion of privacy for the government to know that Bob is sending an email to Jane, even if they don't know the contents of that email. Just tracking that the email was sent seems Orwellian. However, when it comes to postal mail, the government is actually the ones delivering it, so of course they know. We don't have any problem with that.
If you were to learn that a company such as Google intended to distribute your name and email address to everyone in your city, you would probably have a fit. And yet, the phone company used to distribute your name, phone number, and address in a similar fashion (and in some places they still do print and deliver phone books for some reason). You could opt out and become that rare "unlisted number," but hardly anyone ever did. Most people wanted to be found.
What I see happening with the NSA is a legitimate struggle with our ever changing perceptions of privacy and technology, and trying to balance that with our need for security. Many people felt the Boston marathon bombings was a failure of the government. Not me. I don't see how you could have possibly figured out these two bozos were building bombs in their basement. But clearly, many people want the government to be able to somehow figure this stuff out. There is a demand there in the public.
I'm still reserving judgment on this because it's not clear what's really happening. We're getting conflicting reports from the media, the technology companies, and the government regarding what information is being collected, and how it's being used. The NSA director has ordered the declassification of some documents regarding this program, and it will be interesting to see what those say. And I believe more information will be coming out as the issue continues to get attention. There's definitely a lot of confusion over PRISM, and I'm looking forward to learning more about that -- we don't really know much of anything about that program yet, and I think it's a bit early to start hyperventilating over it.
I'm glad that we're taking this seriously, but I'm not quite outraged just yet.