"I think maybe you're engaging in a ridiculous level of paranoia." But this is the whole point... people change their behaviour because of fear of being persec

"I think maybe you're engaging in a ridiculous level of paranoia." But this is the whole point... people change their behaviour because of fear of being persecuted, it may seem irrational and paranoid to some looking in with certain beliefs about what constitutes a risk, but it is entirely understandable and this is the negative effect of governments that spy on their citizens to mark them as threats.