You are correct, taking a single data point and discrediting people with it isn't surveillance. Taking the list, and merging it with the myriad of other sets o

You are correct, taking a single data point and discrediting people with it isn't surveillance. Taking the list, and merging it with the myriad of other sets of metadata, reports, and other resources at the government's disposal is what makes it a contribution to surveillance. Taking all of those lists and resources, and performing that activity as a blanket activity across an entire population is what makes it mass. Your argument is entirely unhelpful because you are arguing one specific activity, which on it's own, against a single person or group of people, might be sensible, but across the general population, without any reasonable suspicion of ill intent, leads to exactly the kinds of problems that we all piss and moan about when we get on an airplane (security theatre, screening for brown people, not terrorists, etc, etc, etc). Also, unless that petition is material to their ability to do their job, what the hell does it matter?