What I told the kid who wanted to join the NSA

In my latest Guardian column, I tell the story of my recent lecture at West Point’s Cyber Institute, where a young cadet took me aside as asked what I thought of their plans for joining the NSA.

The cadet had good reasons to want to join the NSA: they were justly concerned about the Internet security of their loved ones, and felt that if no one who cared about lawfulness joined NSA, it would only get worse. But I had some questions for them.

“Snowden was gung-ho,” I explained. “He was p...