By simply looking at a computer screen, it has the ability to track the family, political, professional and religious associations of its people. Does this statement sound like a sentence taken from a cheap science fiction book written by a paranoid author? Unfortunately, “it” already exists. This entity is the National Security Administration of the United States government. (Rubenfeld) Through programs named Prism (Edward Snowden), Dishfire, and Prefer, the National Security Administration (NSA) has the ability to collect and analyze massive amounts of metadata from automated phone calls and text messages. (Ball) Is this loss of privacy worth the benefits of an increasingly informed government? Unfortunately, the fact that a government hunts down its people has far more negative consequences than positive ones. On June 5, 2013, Edward Snowden, a Booz Allen Hamilton contractor working for the NSA, became famous for leaking information to the Guardian about some of the NSA programs he had discovered while working in their office from Oahu, Hawaii. These programs, including Prism, allow the NSA to collect information on American citizens from their cell phones. Edward Snowden left behind a $200,000 salary and was charged with theft of government property, unauthorized communication of national defense information, and knowingly communicating classified information with an unauthorized person. Why would Edward Snowden think leaving a comfortable lifestyle was worth disclosing this information? Snowden's response was: "I am willing to sacrifice [my former life] because I cannot, in good conscience, allow the U.S. government to destroy people's privacy, Internet freedom, and fundamental freedoms." around the world with this massive investigation... ... middle of paper ......tp://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/01/17/remarks-president-review- signals-intelligence>."Persecution in the Early Church." Religious facts. March 7, 2014. Redmond, Jacques. “Dr. Tech.” Dr. Tech. November 17, 2013. March 8, 2014. Redmond, Jacques. "The 'unhackable' computer." Dr. Tech. November 17, 2013. March 8, 2014. Rouse, Margaret. “Metadata”. What is ? November 2011. March 16, 2014. Rubenfeld, Jed. “Privacy versus anonymity in the NSA debate.” » The Dallas Morning News. January 17, 2014. February 26. 2014 .