Perhaps few news stories in recent months have been as unsettling as the revelations that the National Security Administration (NSA) and other government agencies maintain routine mass surveillance of the lives of ordinary American citizens. Is such information-gathering vital for reasons of national security, and if so, what are the legal parameters of such activity? Are we destined to exist in a world without privacy, where our communications and movements, web surfing and purchasing habits are subject to scrutiny by both government and corporations? What are the implications for investigative journalism and a free press? The varied response to whistle-blowers like Edward Snowden, and the controversy as to how to label him, tell us about the conflicted feelings Americans harbor towards individual dissenters like him, and towards the information being disclosed. Ultimately, the question becomes—in what kind of society do we want to live?