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ActorNightly01/19/20252 repliesview on HN

Name one bad thing that happened to some innocent person because from XKEYSCORE.

I bet you don't even understand how XKEYSCORE works. NSA wasn't illegally wiretapping anyone with it. The whole surveillance program was simply massive data collection, with metadata tracing. It just so happens you can derive a lot of personally identifiable info from the metadata. And you can say thats bad, but then again people really don't give a shit about privacy in the sense that they aren't willing to forgo the comforts of modern apps and devices for actual privacy (for example, see reaction to Tik Tok ban)

On the flip side, we do have evidence of Russia meddling in US politics. We do have foreign nationals commit acts of terror on US soil. We do have Chinese spies and information leaks.

So yea, I consider these programs defensible, because I grew out of my high school libertarian phase, and realize that the world is a bit more complex than "suits in charge".


Replies

saagarjha01/23/2025

I mean, this Wikipedia page exists: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LOVEINT. Why do you think the people in suits are not above abusing their powers?

rainonmoon01/19/2025

I sincerely hope one day your understanding of the history of American imperialism is increased along with the ability to clearly read my comment and you finally wonder how you could have ever believed in something so hypocritical.

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