Misconceptions of the NSA

[mrhappyface]

Well to break it to you, NSA does not do domestic surveillance, the FBI does. The NSA does not care about you unless you are a suspected terrorist or threat to the US overseas. The NSA does not pick through every bit of data on the internet. The NSA needs to get permission to wiretap from a court. The NSA is not big brother. There, that clears it up. Why do so many people have misconceptions about the NSA?

 

[Kollega]

Why do so many people have misconceptions about the NSA?

Two reasons.
1) Paranoia.
2) Not doing their research.

I'm intrested if someone comes along and says "No, NSA is Big Brother, OMGWTFBBQ!"

 

[2012 Wont Happen]

The NSA? I don't know enough about it to tell you why people are paranoid.

The CIA? Because it is a large militarized agency, taking orders directly from the president, whose membership is unknown, known to have committed crimes against US citizens in the past, with a 100% black budget.

From what I've heard, the NSA is similar, but I do not know much (edit- anything) about it like I said.

 

[Pimppeter2]

The National Sex Association?

Its okay it they listen in on my phone calls.... well the dirty ones a least...

 

[Srkkl]

As a whole, the United States community loves a conspiracy. For example 9/11 and the JFK assassination.

 

[2012 Wont Happen]

Well to break it to you, NSA does not do domestic surveillance, the FBI does. The NSA does not care about you unless you are a suspected terrorist or threat to the US overseas. The NSA does not pick through every bit of data on the internet. The NSA needs to get permission to wiretap from a court. The NSA is not big brother. There, that clears it up. Why do so many people have misconceptions about the NSA?

Ah yes, Mr. Random McRandom said it on the internet so now it is all cleared up. Thanks, I can sleep easy now...

This is sort of what I was thinking as well.

 

[mrhappyface]

The NSA? I don't know enough about it to tell you why people are paranoid.

The CIA? Because it is a large militarized agency, taking orders directly from the president, whose membership is unknown, known to have committed crimes against US citizens in the past, with a 100% black budget.

From what I've heard, the NSA is similar, but I do not know much about it like I said.

The image of a bunch of people on computers, filtering through data on the internet 24/7 and listening to conversations, reading emails and texts. It seems to scare people to know they are sexting or having phone sex and having other people listening in on them. It's like thinking a detective is a person that bursts into every room in an apartment complex instead of going straight to the drug dealers' room.

 

[mrhappyface]

My family have compromised of codebreakers and NSA employees for 3 generations. That's why I get upset when people say that NSA is an oppressive, totalitarian program.

 

[WolfThomas]

Yes they are just intelligence gatherers, code breakers, etc etc. They are our MI6 the FBI is MI5.

Just like S.H.I.E.L.D. is your MI13.

It's official, I've been reading too many comics this week...

 

[Gildan Bladeborn]

The NSA? I don't know enough about it to tell you why people are paranoid.

The CIA? Because it is a large militarized agency, taking orders directly from the president, whose membership is unknown, known to have committed crimes against US citizens in the past, with a 100% black budget.

From what I've heard, the NSA is similar, but I do not know much (edit- anything) about it like I said.

For a very long time the existence of the NSA was an open secret, with the joke being that the acronym stood for No Such Agency - the government officially denied it existed, and for the most part it stayed non-existent in the public eye. They kept that up for quite a while before it was finally publicly acknowledged to be a real thing the government was in fact running.

Officially the NSA has stated that they rely on the FBI to collect intelligence on foreign nationals within US borders, while the NSA itself concentrates it's efforts on foreign intelligence gathering (and embassies within our borders, as those technically constitute foreign soil), and they are in fact required by law to do so. Whether or not they've always adhered to the law is another issue though.

 

[2012 Wont Happen]

The NSA? I don't know enough about it to tell you why people are paranoid.

The CIA? Because it is a large militarized agency, taking orders directly from the president, whose membership is unknown, known to have committed crimes against US citizens in the past, with a 100% black budget.

From what I've heard, the NSA is similar, but I do not know much about it like I said.

The image of a bunch of people on computers, filtering through data on the internet 24/7 and listening to conversations, reading emails and texts. It seems to scare people to know they are sexting or having phone sex and having other people listening in on them. It's like thinking a detective is a person that bursts into every room in an apartment complex instead of going straight to the drug dealers' room.

This is true, although, the NSA is a lot more likely to tap somebody that is not doing anything wrong than a detective is to break a door down of an innocent person due to the technology and higher stakes involved, not due to deliberately nefarious goals. I have no quarrel with the NSA as an organization though.

My family have compromised of codebreakers and NSA employees for 3 generations. That's why I get upset when people say that NSA is an oppressive, totalitarian program.

I'm sure there were many people whose families were in the KGB for many generations, but they are widely accepted to have been a totalitarian organization. From what I've heard they were, but I honestly don't know enough to state an intelligent opinion. From what I've heard of the NSA, it seems like they are a totalitarian organization- but what I've heard must be taken with a pile of salt considering that I hang out with a lot of conspiracy theorists and have no real knowledge of the organization.

Having a basic knowledge of the CIA though, I would say it is a totalitarian organization, despite the many people who have generations of service in the organization.

I did not adequately address my point above, so I will simplify it here- you should not let other's accusations bother you. Many say that Adolf Hitler was a socialist. This is very common here in Texas. As a socialist, I could let this enrage me, and sometimes it starts to. However, in the end, I must simply accept that many others are ignorant and move on.

 

[dmase]

I don't know a lot about the NSA but yeah when i hear it i think wire taps and maybe some unwarranted activities, thank you bush administration for that paranoia. Then I looked at Wiki and apparently they do have a lot more power then the feds they just have a more narrow criminal type they are looking for. They have unlimited tapping on anyone that isn't a US citizen from what i see so a convenient store clerk from Afghanistan could very well get wire tapped with little to no oversight. I'm just looking at the wiki criticisms, the description of what it does, but the fact that it is for the most part code breakers I wouldn't be worried about the NSA monitoring my liberal agenda posting habits on escapist.

 

[Lullabye]

.....I don't care about whatever you Americans do, just keep it South of Canada's border.(at least you Americans have and NSA, all we got are Mounties =_=)