Google is the single most helpful service I have ever been provided by anyone ever, and I really couldn't care less that they know what I search and read my emails. It'll only bore the computers they have doing it.
This is exactly my view. So many people complain about privacy and Google's services et cetera, and I can understand their gripes (well, not really, but I'm not about to argue with them about it) but for me personally, if letting Google have my search data and more allows them to do things like give me the time my bus arrives before I even look it up, or tell me whether my flight is delayed before I leave for the airport, then I am so very okay with giving them that information.
Does it really work, though? Is the data the NSA gather from you (granted, I'm not entirely up to speed on these matters) absolutely critical and integral to providing safety? Surely, this information is required from some people, and in a close-to-ideal world it would be the people under suspicion, and having the infrastructure in place is probably also necessary. Personally, I don't give a damn about my privacy. I've never really understood why it's such a big issue, other than the principle - and not because I don't have anything to hide. I have stuff I don't want people to know, but I write about things like that in places like here, and it wouldn't take much for anyone who wanted to to go find out a whole heap of personal stuff. I just don't really have an issue with that at all.
It seems that we couldn't possibly agree more on this issue. But yes, those are the questions. What bothers me is that everyone who jumps on the NSA does so without presenting a way to answer them adequately.Does it really work, though? Is the data the NSA gather from you (granted, I'm not entirely up to speed on these matters) absolutely critical and integral to providing safety? Surely, this information is required from some people, and in a close-to-ideal world it would be the people under suspicion, and having the infrastructure in place is probably also necessary.