Only one in 14 Overdrive readers thought that the National Security Agency’s program for collection of U.S. citizens’ Internet- and phone-activity data was appropriately broad. A large majority favor shuttering the program entirely. “He who gives up liberty for security deserves neither,” reader Lance Krouse wrote in commentary under the poll at OverdriveOnline.com, paraphrasing a quote often attributed to founding father Benjamin Franklin.
Though polling showed fairly lopsided results in favor of limitations on the much-debated NSA spying effort, commentary illustrated some divisions among drivers on Overdrive’s Facebook page. “Goes to show our own government doesn’t trust its own people,” wrote Nate Podosek of his view of the NSA program. Britt Drukin got a good laugh out of that one: “I don’t trust our own people either,” he wrote. “Keep it up, NSA.”
On Twitter, user @TwoDogs_aMule shot back to @OverdriveUpdate with a little circumspection about just how intrusive the NSA spying program really was: “Now the normal citizen can feel our pain of being watched and even having to log every time we stop [to use the bathroom]. E-logs, DOT checkpoints every 100 miles, dashcams, etc. NSA’s info scheme is still less intrusive than our normal day!”
Want to know who did the background-check on NSA program leaker Edward Snowden? Check out Overdrive Senior Editor Kevin Jones’ discussion of how the provider of drivers’ DAC Reports was involved.