Rather than simply accepting this, it is interesting to think about possible technical countermeasures against our bureaucratic overlords. Could we make an open

Rather than simply accepting this, it is interesting to think about possible technical countermeasures against our bureaucratic overlords. Could we make an open source "Silent Circle phone" using the new mobile OSes from Ubuntu or Firefox? Perhaps it only works over Wifi or 4G, but uses packet shaping to mask a call and its associated metadata. With plummeting hardware prototyping costs, this is within the reach of one motivated individual. Relatedly, you might even make an app that causes a standard Android or iPhone to vibrate or glow when the call is being monitored by the NSA, showing the metadata they are remotely recording onscreen, to give some tangible feedback. I do believe the lack of visible feedback on privacy violations of this kind is a huge reason why they go unchecked. One peeping Tom is an outrage, a million is just a statistic. Tangibility changes that.