Will millennials gaining influence, surveillance reform is inevitable

[Commentary] A large and important segment of our society sees Edward Snowden as hero and whistleblower -- and its members are the future.

Though surveillance reform may confront resistance in the near term, millennials have made it clear that they don't want government agencies tracking them online or collecting data about their phone calls. Conventional wisdom says that the young and idealistic grow up and shed their naive ideals as they confront the real world. By that logic, as millennials age, they will recognize the need for the surveillance state to keep us safe from terrorism. But given the lack of evidence that mass surveillance works it is unlikely this generation of digital natives will shed a fundamental commitment to the free exchange of information.

When millennials translate their political ideals into public policy, the future will be more in the spirit of 1776 than 1984, and Snowden will assume his place in American history as whistleblower and patriot. The establishment might not like him now, but one day, it will erect a monument honoring him.

[Romero is the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union]