Since 9/11, it’s become much easier for the government to collect information about ordinary Americans, even those with no real ties to terrorism. This increase in government surveillance poses an unacceptable threat to privacy — and it can make us less safe, not more, by alienating minority communities who are often the victims of racial or religious profiling.
The Brennan Center fights for a better approach by educating Americans about how the government is collecting, sharing, and storing our data, including through social media monitoring; by challenging overly broad surveillance policies in court and in the media; and by advocating for a more targeted and practical counterterrorism strategy.