Twinkle McNugget, it also depends on your definition of "above board." CIA and FBI can put ANYONE on their watch list for ANY REASON. *bleep*, I mean even John Lennon was on the FBI watch list back in the day (
http://www.lennonfbifiles.com/). Are we supposed to just accept a society like the one we read about in 1984 where THINKING something out of line is considered a crime?
I do understand that there is a give and take between safety and privacy, but the kinds of things the human mind comes up with freaks me out. Here in NYC there are surveillance cameras in Lower Manhattan under the guise of deterring terrorism and the mayor just announced that they will be expanding it to Midtown as well (
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/05/nyregion/05security.html?_r=2). Yes, normal citizens have no reason to fear these devices, only those who would seek to break the law. But again, those definitions become greyed and change over time. Anti-war protesters, civil rights activists, hell even women seeking the vote around the turn of the century were all once considered threats to national security.
Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the safety and security of this country (all of my fathers brothers, my father and my grandfather were all NYC cops), but I'm always concerned about the lengths those in power will go to... that and I have an extremely over active imagination haha.