We should be responsible, not scared

Each and every time you log onto Facebook to post a selfie, or buy those awesome running shoes from your favorite online retailer, you are putting your information into the hands of others—many others.

Edward Snowden is running from the U.S. government trying to avoid alleged espionage, because of facts Internet users should have already known.

Americans are currently in fear of how Silicon Valley is holding all of their personal data in some vague storeroom. And they are losing their trust in the “techlords” fearing their information may not be safe.

Should Americans be scared? Probably not. If they are, they should be aware that they got themselves into this mess. Americans are also picking on the NSA for unknown reasons.

The National Security Agency isn’t “spying.” It is doing its job. If you do a Google search and find unbiased, dependable news sources, there are good things the NSA is doing.

No one ever talks about good things if there is something negative that can be discussed. All the criticism of the NSA being spewed is probably based on all the negative editorials people write to get attention.

The fears I hear about being scared of the NSA are just plain silly. You will not be arrested for treason if the NSA sees  your Facebook status says something about you disliking Obama.

If you feel uncomfortable with what you have to say on the Internet, you probably should not be saying it at all. The Internet is like a huge classroom, and Americans need to remember that. Think before you type. You have more time to think when in front of a keyboard anyway.

Those fears are trivial.

I can almost understand a fear for credit card numbers being stolen worthy of panic. But the NSA is not usually at fault for incidents of that sort. If anything, you should be thanking the security agency.

In an online USA Today article by Glenn Reynolds, he said online shopping has recently declined in all age demographics because of fear. Fear for what?

The NSA backs some of the “techlords” in Silicon Valley and they back the NSA, but for good reason. On the NSA website, you can see a list of efforts and policies the NSA has made to protect your information.

Also, for anyone to expect and want the government to not see what you’re posting and doing on the Internet is just plain ignorant. If it weren’t for the government, you would not have wasted a day watching Netflix because of your World Wide Web connection.

In the 1960s, the U.S. Department of Defense was very interested in the development of a long distance communication medium that did not involve continuously connected wires.

The government was afraid of the Soviets taking out communications and wanted some form of “Internet” that could not be destructed by the communists. With the collaboration of computer scientists and military experts and several years of technologic evolution, you can download that three-minute cat video in just a few seconds.

If you honestly believe you have rights to surf a public medium, then you need to be responsible and think about your actions taken on that public medium.

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