Who’s Afraid of the NSA?

Should we be scared of the NSA? Are they watching what we do online?
Ronald Sievert of Texas A&M says that we shouldn’t worry. He argues that the portion of data they collect is small, but vital to our national security in a post-9/11 world. He also argues that the legal system has checks and balances that prevent abuses of power.
Cindy Cohn of the Electronic Frontier Foundation disagrees—she thinks we should worry about mass data collection. She argues that not only is the data collected significant, it also has significant potential for abuse. She argues that there is no evidence that these programs keep us safer and that the government should need probable cause to violate citizens’ privacy.