caustin582 :
I wonder what the NSA was thinking here. They have no real leverage on the issue and the public is already highly skeptical of everything they do. It blows my mind that Google successfully advocated for them in the first place.
In a democracy, elected officials are custodians of the will of the people. Meaning, they work for the electorate while still having the autonomy to govern without micromanagement by the people. However, the NSA works for government, and not the electorate directly.
What's happening here is that at least at the Federal Gov level, the primary goal of the agency (NSA) is to follow a mission and its directives as instructed by the elected officials. And if that means colluding with them, or other nations
against the electorate, so be it.
Think of the NSA like an untamed wild beast. While it often ignores you and provides mutual protection from time to time against nations of aggression, if required, it would not hesitate to turn on you also.