I dislike the idea of "private contractors" having access to my data, much less government secrets. These private spies provide a layer of insulation between th

I dislike the idea of "private contractors" having access to my data, much less government secrets. These private spies provide a layer of insulation between their actions and the checks & balances which are supposed to protect us from civil rights abuses by the government. I'm not sure how many "private contractors" the NSA had in the 1970's but I'm sure that the recent revelations would not have gone without public outcry in the 70's, and just as the use of mercenaries in wartime was once frowned upon in the USA, so would the news of "mercenary-spies" operating outside the direct oversight of the US government be frowned upon.