Binney's project, ThinThread, seems to have been an effort to achieve the NSA mission without the need for bulk data collection ... And he was right to push for

Binney's project, ThinThread, seems to have been an effort to achieve the NSA mission without the need for bulk data collection ... And he was right to push for that, to the extent that any mass surveillance is justified. A whistleblower is not necessarily a crank. I also believe your characterization of Binney's project is unfair. If we are to discuss the individual in the manner of ad hominem, then the simple fact that Binney correctly assessed the NSA in the past is a good reason to suspect his current analysis is also correct.