America - Can it be trusted to gather information?

Should America, arguably the leading country in personal invasion - also arguably the least trustworthy - Be allowed this ever growing, never ending power of information theft?
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James Otis fought writs of assistance in 1761.

These writs were effectively open warrants that allowed british soliders to raid and search homes based on no suspicion of criminal activity.
Otis lost but John Adams was sitting in this courtroom. This soon became the 14th amendment to massachusetts delcration of rights (Written by John Adams) then inspiring the 4th amendment.
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Here are some of the past occurences revolving around American information and intelligence gathering in brief.

In the 1920's Cipher bureau (black chamber) monitored telegraphs for "threats to national security" given permission by WesternUnion the largest telegraph company to monitor its messages.
During WW2 SHAMROCK was born with the same purpose, then becoming NSA. Whilst legal during WW2 the program continued afterwards analyzing many thousands of messages a month with no warrants

ECHELON launched by NSA, Britian, New Zealand, Canada and australia with the purpose of monitering the globe amonsgt themselves, intercepting each others domestic communications to avoid "spying on its own people". Echelon was carried out in secret during the cold war but its budget and influence was increased after the CW, as opposed to being dismantaled.
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In the 1950's+ Swiss company Crypto AG sold the worlds leading encryption technology; 120 nations purchased this technology, Many of them US intelligence targets. The usage of the technology within these countries includes Military, trade and information gathering organisations. The NSA however was in cohorts with Crypto AG and this allowed the American government free access to this classified information.
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1994, Thomson S.A, located in paris, Lost profitable contracts to American rivals aided by information collected by the NSA and CIA
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1995, Japanese representatives spied on during negotiations with the US over auto parts trade
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In 1998 Enercon Developed a secret invention enabling it to generate electricity from wind power at a cheaper rate. When trying to market it in the United states, They were informed by American company Kenetech it had already patented a near-identical development.
Kenetech banned Enercon from selling this equipment in the US via court order.
A NSA employee appeared on TV claiming he had stolen Enercons ideas via tapping phone communications via a computer line 15miles away from the center, passing on detailed plans of the companys invention to Kenetech.
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IN 1999 the EU denied the US access to encrryption programmes as they believed it was about industrial espionage, not law enforcement.
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1999 Sept. Microsoft revealed to be working with the NSA inserting special keys (Back doors) into windows software allowing federal access into private systems. Snowden also leaked information showing microsoft and the NSA working Hand in Hand in many ventures of the micrsoft cooperation. Alledged includes Cloud services, Skype and Outlook. The information from these passed to NSA/FBI.
In 2000 DAS, french intelligence (military) reported that in 1999 that NSA had indeed worked with
microsoft. There is even a micrsoft liason in the NSA building.
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The Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution provides, "[t]he right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

The ultimate goal of this provision is to protect people’s right to privacy and freedom from arbitrary governmental intrusions. Private intrusions not acting in the color of governmental authority are exempted from the Fourth Amendment.

Electronic surveillance is also considered a search under the Fourth Amendment.

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United states have pushed for Back door access to EU encrypted programs in the past and also
want access to large companies such as Apple and Google.

"The FBI wants a “backdoor” into encrypted products – not just phones, but other communications
services as well. FBI Director Comey has called for companies to build security flaws into their
encrypted products so that the government can break through and wiretap consumers or seize data stored on their devices. In the case of the San Bernardino shooting, the FBI has sought to force Apple, Inc. to produce an insecure version of its mobile operating system, which would vastly increase the security and privacy risks to hundreds of millions mobile devices."

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So where do we draw the line? This is'nt just a matter of "Nothing to hide, Nothing to fear" It is a complete attack on rights and freedoms. It has been, Is being and will be used with gross misconduct. This is mass surveillance, Big brother states, Big brother britain, Surveillance society.
Britain has 1.5x more camers than communist china despite having a fraction of its population. Give America and technology 10-20 years and they will be inside your head. Chips inside your body tracking your every move.

Facial recognition software is being implemented so that a store will know you by name even if you have never been there before. They will know your likes and dislikes, what your last website viewed was and how to cater to that interest.

This is just madness. We are atop a hill looking down the steep decline. We may think it a good idea to begin the adrenaline enthused decent but once we begin we are commited. Once you begin the run there is no stoping it, even if it takes a turn for the worse.

a reply to: WhatGoldStandard

Five eyes is always looking . It is not just America .

a reply to: hutch622

Perhaps but America imposes on its citizens constantly, Also America is the most invasive into other countrys.

I just see this as another example of how dictatorship of the "unwashed masses" is coming into effect via a thousand cuts.

This is not for the citizen. It is for those in power.

a reply to: WhatGoldStandard

Personally speaking, I would say no. America has no permission to spy on me, and it has no permission to share data it gets on me or anyone else in my country, with the intelligence services here.

Everyone currently working for the NSA, GCHQ, or the rest of the Five Eyes network are my enemies, being traitors to their own people, and aggressors toward my nations people as well. I hope they all burn, like the traitorous dogs they are. They are the most freedom hating enemies that liberty has in the current age, a thousand times worse than any religious terror group, a thousand times worse than any right wing xenophobic organisation.... these individuals are working for a system which invades every life, every byte of data.

Depends what the information is used for. If it is used to make the world better and safer then yes, else no.

The info gatherers have not even realized yet that Windows 10 is a 'double edged sword' that will be used against them on that final day of Judgement.

If they use the keypresses for the greater good of Mankind then fine, otherwise damn them all to hell for not taking up the Cross of Jesus.

As they read the last sentence, their sword will be going through their own spines. And they never saw it coming.

The simple answer is no.
The us government can't tell the truth , and should not be trusted to keep an eye on anyone.
They already have access to pretty much anything they want anyway, they break laws to collect information, its a big part of the reason that the country is falling apart because they spend more time and money watching the world and not taking care of things at home.
They start wars or overthrow governments that don't agree with them. Putin is more trustable than our current president and if hillary wins, well we all know well she can keep secret information safe.