A few days ago, a user on reddit’s CMV (Change My View) thread posted this query in response to news of the National Security Agency’s PRISM surveillance program.

I believe the government should be allowed to view my e-mails, tap my phone calls, and view my web history for national security concerns.

Obviously the response was huge. At the time of writing the query has 3340 comments, most citing well researched, evidence based reasons why they object to their private information being monitored by the authorities. Only one post though, by an anonymous contributor using the handle 161719 and purportedly hailing from “one of the Arab Spring countries“, managed to effectively articulate how information is power, how it’s collection may seem reasonable at the time, but rapid changes to political systems can result in innocuous data being used in the systematic persecution of individuals and their families.

It’s petrifying. Please read it in full here. Whether you want to change your view or not.