> governments monitor our communications and social media activity
> The fact of the matter is that if you're using the Internet, you can bet the NSA is watching. They keep a record of what you’ve visited and whom you’ve been talking to. The NSA has the ability to build a complete picture of your day-to-day activities.
> if you have called a Pizza Hut, and a known drug dealer has called that Pizza Hut, then the NSA is currently keeping records of your actions -- and the actions of everyone you’ve spoken to.
It also addresses the good - there isn't any, or at least no good reason has been given:
> If it’s to prevent terrorism or keep the public safe, it’s not working. On December 12, 2013, the President’s Review Group found that this data collection was “not essential to preventing attacks”.
If there's a lot of bad (it gives details) and no known good ... I believe their point is, why have it in the first place?
Maybe we'll agree some day that this level of surveillance is a price we're willing to pay, but that needs a rigorous and well-informed public debate.
Our letter ends by calling on the U.S. government to "bring the NSA back within the bounds of the constitution," not to scrap the NSA entirely.
Hope this clarifies. :-)
The NSA/GCHQ is a nation-state level issue, effecting populaces on the same scale.
Not only did the surveillance help in nabbing the criminals in a short time, it also helped prevent the same happen to other students as the thieves were caught looking for other scapegoats near by.
What is needed is oversight on this technology. Not outright banning. There is good and bad for any technology, surveillance is no different.