Well, think of it this way, just because you can do something doesn't mean you are doing something.
If we say that just because the NSA has access to data that by definition domestic surveillance is going on, that would also mean that every ISP is engaging in domestic surveillance (of what little domestic part they service or peer), that all SaaS providers are engaged in industrial espionage, or that the U.S. is engaged in "domestic nuclear bombing" simply because they possess dangerous weapons.
To the extent that NSA analysts actually engage in spying on people domestically, at the direction of the Administration, then you'd definitely be right. But as far as I know even Snowden hasn't argued that, merely that we're one "turnkey tyranny" away from exactly that starting up.
Perhaps the story about the DEA's SOD engaging in parallel construction is an example though?
Well the German BND just the other day was shown to be spying on the rest of the world and giving "non-German" data over to the NSA. The idea that the world's foremost proponents of data security and data privacy still spy on the rest of the world (and fully legally) is illustrative IMHO.
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[ 2.4 ms ] story [ 20.6 ms ] thread"It's not denial. I'm just selective about the reality I accept."
-Calvin and Hobbes
If we say that just because the NSA has access to data that by definition domestic surveillance is going on, that would also mean that every ISP is engaging in domestic surveillance (of what little domestic part they service or peer), that all SaaS providers are engaged in industrial espionage, or that the U.S. is engaged in "domestic nuclear bombing" simply because they possess dangerous weapons.
To the extent that NSA analysts actually engage in spying on people domestically, at the direction of the Administration, then you'd definitely be right. But as far as I know even Snowden hasn't argued that, merely that we're one "turnkey tyranny" away from exactly that starting up.
Perhaps the story about the DEA's SOD engaging in parallel construction is an example though?
Modern politics. Democracy and privacy no longer exist.