Technology Outpacing Policymakers, Needs Of NSA

The controversy over the National Security Agency's surveillance programs has exposed a problem in the oversight of those programs: The development of the relevant technology has outpaced the laws and policies that govern its use.

"The technology is moving very fast," says Joel Brenner, a former NSA general counsel. "Legislation moves very slowly. Policy moves pretty slowly. The people who write policy don't always understand technology, and the people who write legislation almost never understand technology. And so in an era when the technology is moving quickly, it's really hard for the policy to keep up with it." If the NSA is going to intercept terrorist communications, it has to be capable of intercepting everyone's communications. This raises a conflict between ensuring privacy and ensuring national security. It's one of the problems that need to be sorted out as the country considers new surveillance rules.