Step 2: Analysis
- Was the data collection on subjects outside of the United States, or were U.S. citizens also subject to data collection? Should this distinction make a difference?
- Did U.S. citizens know about these data-collection programs? What had been publicly disclosed, if anything, before Snowden’s leaks?
- What communications of yours (e.g., Google, Apple, Facebook, mobile phone) could have been potentially swept up in the data-collection programs?
- Was there sufficient oversight (e.g., by Congress) of these data-collection programs?
- Was anyone put at risk because of Snowden’s leaks? Explain.
- Is it possible to verify that the various secret data-collection programs made U.S. citizens safer?