I do agree with you, though <i>as a brief tangent</i> (as if this horse wasn&#x27;t beat badly enough here in HN during the past almost 30 months...), my personal concern is both political and ethical, and I suspect this same concern applies to many of us who see dragnet surveillance as a problem.<p>The political aspect is that whatever data there is about an individual can be used against them, <i>selectively</i>, for say political purposes. This is a gross violation of transparency and the principles of a democratic society.<p>The ethical aspect is that I am being spied upon <i>because of what I am not</i> -- because I am <i>not</i> a US citizen. The talk about whether US constitution protects <i>US citizens</i> from dragnet mass surveillance (and thus whether NSA spying is unconstitutional) outright disgusts <i>me</i> (although I do understand the relevance for US citizens, of course). Telling one to &quot;not use US internet services&quot; is like telling one to opt out from the Internet. It&#x27;s a &quot;tough cookies&quot; argument with very limited practical applicability.<p>Collecting information about me to make money out of me by selling me stuff? Honestly, <i>in comparison</i>, that doesn&#x27;t feel <i>that</i> bad at all. Luckily, browser add-ons like Ghostery and various adblockers mitigate this to an extent.