Two years ago, Edward Snowden revealed the extensive surveillance infrastructure of the National Security Agency (NSA) to the world. 

Traditionally, government surveillance activities have focused overseas, where U.S. law places few limits on their scope. Snowden revealed that the NSA and other intelligence agencies have increasingly spied on Americans on U.S. soil. 

Since then, even as the resulting public debate demanded a more rigorous legal framework for data collection, the technological capacity to gather and analyze surveillance data advanced exponentially. 

This has become a fundamental question of U.S. national identity: are infringements on personal privacy a necessary trade-off for the possibility of greater security from terrorist attacks?

Timeline: The Defining Moments

• Weeks after the attacks of September 11, 2001, Congress passed the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act – otherwise known as the USA PATRIOT Act.
• The previously divided U.S. intelligence community was consolidated under the Directorate of National Intelligence (DNI) to “promote cohesion and better sharing of information within different intelligence agencies.” Members of the DNI include the NSA, Central Intelligence Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Department of Homeland Security.
• The Guardian revealed on June 6, 2013, that the NSA was collecting the telephone records of millions of Americans daily by way of a secret court order through the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.
• On March 29, 2014, German newspaper Der Spiegel confirmed that the NSA was actively spying on at least 122 world leaders – including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff, and Mexico's former president Felipe Calderón – as well as the French Foreign Ministry and leaders at the 2010 G8 and G20 summits in Toronto.
• The USA Freedom Act – legislation designed to place stricter limits on NSA surveillance – was signed into law by President Obama on June 2, 2015.

Looking Ahead: Members Weekend 2015

Ms. Jessica Yellin, Visiting Distinguished Fellow at the Pacific Council, will lead an active working group discussion on this issue at Members Weekend 2015. She will be joined by Dr. Antony Field, Assistant Professor in the National Security Studies Program at California State University, San Bernardino, and Mr. Jonathan Kotler, Associate Professor of Journalism at the University of Southern California.

Is the United States on its way to becoming a surveillance state? Stay tuned for the results of that session.

Meanwhile, share your own opinion on social media: are infringements on personal privacy a necessary trade-off for the possibility of greater security from terrorist attacks? Tweet at us @PacCouncil: you can follow along and join the conversation on October 9 and 10 using #membersweekend.