Beyond Snowden: Privacy, Mass Surveillance, and the Struggle to Reform the NSA

Abstract

Snowden’s leaks of top secret documents prompted companies and individuals to take long overdue steps to make their communications and data more secure. The episode also led to reforms that made government surveillance more transparent, more accountable, more protective of privacy—and, contrary to conventional wisdom, actually strengthened the NSA in significant ways by making it more effective. While the reforms implemented by Congress and the Obama administration were a good first step, much more needs to be done to prevent abuse.