As usual, arguments depending on an arbitrary ordering or arbitrary negation are nonsensical:<p>&quot;Is mass surveillance useless? Unless you can prove it, it&#x27;s obviously useful. See Russell&#x27;s teapot.&quot;<p>(Russell&#x27;s teapot doesn&#x27;t apply anyway, because the thing to prove is falsifiable: governments &#x2F;could&#x2F; release information about thwarted attacks, in case there are any.)