Invasion of privacy has to be fought. But let's not kid ourselves into believing we're not incredibly privileged with the free society we live in.
FYI you don't know who or what is coming next. That's why I can say 1000 times worse. It could also be a million times worse.
The data is sitting there, waiting for the biggest bunch of assholes to cone along and abuse it.
P.s. I can't reply to rev_bird below, but Amen to that. Spot on analysis.
...which makes it all the more important that we quash said opportunity now.
It's also worth noting, though, that the current situation has the potential to be more global and pervasive than all of those more localized historical examples.
I seem to recall an intelligence agency official or general saying something to the effect of "America will be remembered for it's networks the way that Rome is remembered for its roads." I can't seem to find the quote right now, but I think it's illustrative of the bounds and limits of our present apparatus.
Basically, the framework is there. All it will take is one overzealous nationalist, one religious extremist, or one extremely greedy, immoral, charismatic corporate puppet and their resources for evil are bigger than at any other time in history. Look at how well Hitler tracked Jews with basic 1940's punch card technology. Imagine if he had had access to the NSA databases of today. I apologize for going all Godwin's Law here, but it seems relevant.
What truly amazes me is how complacent we are about it as a society. 1984 was obviously popular for a reason, but when the set up for that book is staring us in the face, we don't even seem to blink. Maybe we'll be different when (not if) the abuses of this kind of power start happening...
The pervasive surveillance state presents a monstrous potential for the suppression of people who aim to challenge the status quo, which seems like as fundamental a threat to free speech as there can be. I love that we have so many First Amendment protections today, but if there are billions of dollars going to programs that continuously flout the Fourth Amendment, it's not a huge stretch to say the other ones aren't up for grabs.
Potential Politician: "I want to run on a platform of reform, government transparency and freedom of speech"
NSA: "We have these emails you sent to a friend in London when you were a student 20 years ago, where you intimated how you slept with another woman than your girlfriend, now your wife..."
PP: "I resign to spend more time with my family"
All it takes is for one bad apple to come along and really screw things over for everyone. Almost everyone has something that could be used against them in the court of public opinion. Mass surveillance just primes the pump for abusive individuals to blackmail the world.
Do you want your government run by elected individuals or the unelected intelligence agents who are blackmailing them?
PS: Pre-snowden, I'd have said this is crazy conspiracy theory talk. Nowadays, I dunno...
To my knowledge there is not single shred of evidence that the NSA used their surveillance to suppress free speech...
I would go one step further and proclaim that modern information technology has not only magnified our ability to speak freely, it has also enabled us to have a better picture of local, national and international politics than ever before.
This means that freedom, even and especially in the democratic western countries, is actually climbing. The NSA surveillance, even with substantial "there's got to be more" factor, does not even begin to threaten that freedom.
Imagine if you had secret and unfettered access to your friends' email, texts, and phone calls. Further imagine that you can spoof sending emails and texts. You see that Alice is interested in Joe and you don't want them to get together. Don't you think you could sabotage this from ever happening without either of them knowing? I do.
The government (or corporation) could effectively hellban you. They could drive you around by remote control and you wouldn't even know it. Surveillance is Orwellian. Secret surveillance is 10x Orwellian. Stealth surveillance plus subtle control is game over.
Still, ubiquitous surveillance may afford far more concentration of power than Orwell imagined. You couldn't get anywhere in DC without J. Edgar Hoover's blessing, and his surveillance capabilities were orders of magnitude weaker than what the NSA has today.