NSA spying
Federal mass surveillance
NSA spying refers to surveillance activities conducted by the United States National Security Agency, particularly the mass collection of communications data from American citizens and foreign nationals.
The term gained widespread use after Edward Snowden's 2013 disclosures revealed programs monitoring phone records, emails, and internet activity: The debate over NSA spying raised questions about the balance between security and privacy.
- surveillanceSystematic observation of subjects
- government surveillanceOfficial observation of citizens
- wiretappingCovert phone surveillance
- SnowdenNSA contractor turned fugitive
- PRISMNSA mass surveillance program
metadata · eavesdropping · whistleblower · classified · intercept · data collection · dragnet · Patriot Act · FISA · foreign intelligence · backdoor · monitoring · intelligence · data mining · mass surveillance · deep state · warrantless · leaks
NSA spyingprivacy
Freedom from observation
digital privacy · privacy rights · data protection · encryption · end-to-end encryption
NSA spyinggovernment transparency
Public access to official proceedings
open government · public accountability · public disclosure · whistleblowing · declassification
NSA spyingprobable cause
Legal threshold for searches