I'm never really sure how to react to these stories... In general, I agree with you that "they suck anyway" is an unhelpful stance, but the NSA's track record is singularly bad.
They went in front of the Church Committee and lied outright to Congress, then dodged all consequences when a DoJ investigation explicitly concluded that their stonewall tactics were too effective to defeat. Decades later, when we look at Clapper's testimony to Congress, nothing much seems to have improved. At best, every word of the promises and announcements has an exotic meaning no one could intuit, which won't be provided until after the story is leaked. At worst, they're naked lies.
I don't know what healthy progress and activism here look like, because as far as I can tell they've never happened. (Barring, I suppose, James Bamford's work.) When Congress repeatedly fails to bring an agency to heel, and the DoJ outright admits it's not up to the task, it's hard to find much faith in anything that agency says.
They went in front of the Church Committee and lied outright to Congress, then dodged all consequences when a DoJ investigation explicitly concluded that their stonewall tactics were too effective to defeat. Decades later, when we look at Clapper's testimony to Congress, nothing much seems to have improved. At best, every word of the promises and announcements has an exotic meaning no one could intuit, which won't be provided until after the story is leaked. At worst, they're naked lies.
I don't know what healthy progress and activism here look like, because as far as I can tell they've never happened. (Barring, I suppose, James Bamford's work.) When Congress repeatedly fails to bring an agency to heel, and the DoJ outright admits it's not up to the task, it's hard to find much faith in anything that agency says.