For starters I just have to say WOW!! This week’s material really opened up my eyes to a lot of things and I can say it definitely make me want to just get off of any electronic device I have. There was so much information that I have never really knew about because of my age and I didn’t really get into the NSA surveillance news in middle and high school; I feel like some of the older students might have had an idea about this before now. Even still as at 21 I feel like I am disconnected from what is going on in the world because I don’t watch the news or read the paper.
I do not think that the benefits of the domestic spying program outweigh the wholesale loss of individual freedom and privacy. 
I say this because America is a free country, we are not a socialists or communists we believe in a body of truly free people and every time we give up some of our rights for ‘protection’ or ‘security’ we are becoming less free. People say this is a very right winged way of thinking but I believe that if we do not stand up for the small CONSTITUTIONAL rights that are taken from us one day we will not have any freedoms left. I absolutely understand the points made in the article by Thomas Friedman, “Blowing a Whistle.” I feel like Friedman is saying he is willing to give up some privacy so we don’t one day have another large scale attack like 9/11; however, I do not agree with it. Look at the fourth amendment, it prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures. I consider my emails, text messages, call logs, and any other digitally/electronically exchanged information my property and I feel like the government should not be allowed to collect it without probable cause and if they have probable cause they need to get a warrant from a judge. Another reason I have a problem with this is the government collects all of this data and it is stored on their servers that could potentially be hacked. We have also read and watch video this week on malware called FLAME and Stuxnet, who is to say that some type of cyber warfare won’t happen on these servers and hackers take this information that will affecting millions of Americans? I is unsafe to have that much information on that many individuals in one place. Over all I feel like my position against a domestic spying program is a long-term perspective of the unintended consequences.
I think my answer to the first question kind of embodies how I will feel about Gen. Hayden’s concept of the US creating cyber-weapons to do our dirty work. We learned from the video “Stuxnet cracking the code” that once a code is made and infiltrates the targets computer that they then have the code. Why would be give the ‘bad guys’ the code when they can turn it back around on us? The last thing that the US needs right now is a large scale cyberwar attack. How do we do 99% of our business and financial transitions? The internet. Something that could jeopardize either of those would devastate our economy. Cyber weapons could be a valuable asset but they would open one heck of a Pandora’s Box that is guaranteed to come back and haunt us! I say this because when we incur a cyber-attack because we sent one out I bet the enemy won’t come back and attack just the government’s servers I bet they come back on a larger scale attack that will directly affect millions on Americans.
Jazzyfreshhh 
You are right about the risks associated with cyber-weapons. We do a lot of our transactions online and I couldn’t imagine what would happen if there was a large scale cyber attack. It seems easy enough for people to steal identities in todays day and age, its hard to say what would happen if another country decided to use a sophisticated cyber attack on us. -Derek
I felt the same way you did. This week’s reading opened my eyes to the current situation that is going on. I found myself questioning where was I during all of this and why did I not know what was truly going on. I think that you are right and that all surveillance should be done by a judge on a case to case basis. The fact that it is done in this way seems unconstitutional.
I totally agree with your stance on surveillance, and you bring up a good point about all that information being stored in one place. I do not quite agree with you on cyber warfare. Other countries (the bad guys) already have the technology to attack us, so we should be focusing on protecting ourselves.
You are correct in this week being an eye opener. I now understand my fried Doug and his need and use of privacy. I know the company he works for is of HIGH security needs due to their research and locations but this explains so much more. I believe in our rights as citizens of the US and now I wonder if some of the government agencies have gone over the line. But I also wonder how many have been stopped too.
This weeks materials also opened my eyes greatly. I really didn’t have a clue about any of these privacy acts until this week and I am 22, so I know how you feel. A few days after watching those videos, I’d think about the government every time I made a phone or sent a text and wondered ‘Is that in their records too?’. It’s just unreal to think of some of this. I also agree with what you brought up about the cyber weapons. I thought of the fact that once it is made and used, then everyone will have access to it and be able to make it or shape how they please. I liked your post.
This week’s material opened my eyes as well. Prior to the readings and videos, I had no clue that Americans were being spied on. This new information also made me nervous about using my phone and sending out emails.
I like to think that I am secured while surfing the internet. I run firewalls and antiviruses on my computer, use proxy servers and Virtual Private Networks (VPN) to mask my IP address, but I fear as undetected as I am to the average person, the government knows exactly what I’m doing. It’s discomforting, and probably the only reason why I continue surfing the internet is knowing that they’re monitoring digital information in order to protect us. I still feel iffy about that compromise though, as I still would like my privacy.