(MintPress) – Everything you send in an email is being watched and can be used against you by the government, according to National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower William Binney. As Binney told Russia Today, the FBI records the emails of nearly all U.S. citizens including members of congress.
“They are violating the foundation of this entire country. Why this entire government was formed? It’s founded with the Constitution and the rights were given to the people in the country under that Constitution. They are in violation of that,” Binney said. “If any of this comes into Supreme Court and they rule it unconstitutional, then the entire house of cards of the government falls.”
Known as one of the best mathematicians and code breakers in the history of the NSA, Binney resigned in 2001, saying he didn’t want to work for an organization that violated the Constitution by engaging in widespread and pervasive surveillance without warrants. A 2012 recipient of the Joe A. Callaway Award for Civic Courage, Binney blew the whistle on the NSA’s practices while George W. Bush was president, but he says things have gotten worse since President Barack Obama came into office, as funding and storage capabilities for the program have increased.
While some right-leaning commentators have said that their concern about a “Big Brother” government dissipates as they weigh the value of their privacy against the safety of their family, their approval of the privacy breach lessens upon learning that the FBI doesn’t just track those who are seen as potential threats to national security, but they collect the emails of virtually everybody in the country. Meaning if the government or FBI has any reason to target a person, which includes disagreeing with the governments stance on a particular issue, the NSA may be authorized to gather and analyze information on the individual for at least the past 10 years.
As Binney told Russia Today, the program has gone way off track from its original purpose, which was “to identify terrorists anywhere in the world and alert anyone that they were in jeopardy.”