What we don’t know won’t hurt us, correct? What if we knew all along but for some reason it never scared us enough to say anything? Does anyone recall seeing bumper stickers after 9/11 that said “If you’re not completely appalled, then you haven’t been paying attention”? In America, I feel like only on the verge of catastrophe are we moved to infuriation. Taliban, climate change, airport surveillance, bullying, bank and corporate bailouts, now finally internet privacy. It is not to say that millions of people have been aware our data is sifted through, recorded, kept. Who can truly say they trust their government with one hundred percent certainty, especially with our data?

So why are the NSA’s unlawful actions against its citizens finally pissing us off? Because it is out in the open along with our eyes. It is only human to share feelings of distrust and anger, and just like a rippling effect we are officially outraged. Everything you keep in your email account, every webpage you visit, what you purchase and who you talk to is not private, nor has it been. How unlawful could the government be towards its people, and what better tactic than using technology?

The internet culture is especially exhibitionistic, in that you put yourself on display wherever and however you please. From your check-ins, tweets, allowing access to location data, etc. It has been speculated younger generations are especially subject to this behavior, and it is theorized that some are less disgusted by the recent news. It is only thanks to whistleblower Ed Snowden, who is currently taking refuge in Hong Kong, that the extent of the spying is now acknowledged. The question now is, besides anger how should it make us feel? The answer is: like the enemy. It is thanks to the advances in technology that this is even possible. Clearly, it is a crime that the government uses such expertise to spy on us.

In recent days, Yahoo, Facebook and Microsoft have asked permission for a count of data requests received from the surveillance court. This is a move I was happy to hear about. Major corporations, although powerful as heck in their own means of monitoring, were able to come out and show just how real the NSA leaks are. Google on the other hand has rejected the move feeling it would be “taking a step back”. However, these requests may not shed much light on PRISM (a secret government program collab between the NSA, FBI and countless tech companies), because they do not require individual warrants from the NSA each time a search is made.

So it goes. These companies, with the addition of Apple and Yahoo who joined the efforts just on Monday released these data requests, but with additional questions leftover. For example, Facebook stated it received 9 to 10 thousand requests covering about 19 thousand user accounts in just six months. Apple stated from Dec 2012 to May 31 of this year, about 5 thousand requests were made from 10 thousand accounts. Okay so we know very roughly how many, but how many were from actual investigations such as terrorist plots or other crimes? Some, yes, but it is still unknown how these programs are being implemented and there lies the unanswered questions.

Still, tech companies like Apple have had their first experience of releasing this information, and claim they never give the government access to electronic conversations, etc., because not even Apple itself can break the encryption that protects it. The fact remains, the numbers are not likely to be telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth. With every request the NSA makes there are agents out there with the ability to “add names and additional search queries to that request for up to a year afterward”. So, just like this entire cataclysm, we still do not know just how snoopy the snoops are. We may never, but at least society is embracing the truth that has been told.