Whenever Alina talks to her cousins in Mexico, she wonders if someone from the government is listening in. She heard on the news that the government was wiretapping international phone calls. After the September 11th attacks, the government passed the USA Patriot Act, which allowed the National Security Agency (NSA) to tap phone calls, email accounts, and text messages of suspicious individuals under certain conditions. The Act required the NSA to ask judges for permission to access communications between people in the U.S.

But those in charge of protecting American security thought the limitations on surveillance of suspicious people were too strict. In 2006, a court secretly approved collecting, storing, and analyzing phone records from all the major phone companies. In fact, Verizon had to turn over all information on all phone calls in its system every day. With the growth of the internet, the records collected soon included much more than information about who was calling whom. Facebook, YouTube, Google, Skype, and other companies handed over their data to the NSA. Anything could be tapped and stored if there was a reasonable suspicion that a “non-U.S. person” had “foreign intelligence information.” Government officials argued that all the information collected came from sources that might reveal terrorist plans. Only a few members of the government knew, though, how much data was being collected, and from how many people!

That situation changed in 2013, when a British newspaper reported that the NSA collected phone records from millions of customers every day. Government contractor Edward Snowden was soon revealed as the source of this information. Snowden was opposed to the massive NSA surveillance and felt it was his duty as a patriot to reveal its existence. That act led to widespread anger about the U.S. policy and a demand to eliminate government wiretapping.

Though many viewed Snowden as a traitor, his actions led to important changes. Many members of Congress and prominent judges have taken action against NSA surveillance programs. In addition, some major tech companies like Google have developed increased security and privacy measures. Meanwhile, Edward Snowden fled the U.S. to avoid arrest. He stated he was acting out of patriotism, but he has made himself an ex-patriot by accepting refuge in Russia. He may never be able to return to the U.S. without facing arrest.

What do you think? Was Snowden a patriot? Should wiretapping be legal as long as the government is trying to catch terrorists? How much privacy are we willing to give up? Where do you stand? Remember, someone may be listening!