Happy Patriot Act Anniversary!

By Naomi Brockwell, Founder and Director of NBTV

The US PATRIOT Act wasn’t just a mistake; it was a turning point in the relentless erosion of privacy. It institutionalized mass surveillance, shredding the Fourth Amendment in the US and fundamentally altering our lives.

It was sold to us as a temporary measure. But it became a permanent feature of our world, that had global implications.

Today marks the anniversary of the Patriot Act’s passage, and all week NBTV has been leading a major push for surveillance awareness. We released seven new videos: interviews with privacy advocates from all walks of life, and sketches exposing the intrusive surveillance that has become disturbingly normal. This week, I also spoke at Saintcon in Utah to inspire others to join us in this fight for privacy.

Because we can’t afford to stay silent.

The truth is, privacy is disappearing fast.
Corporations, malicious actors, and governments are all working to undermine it.
- Surveillance capabilities double every two years, keeping pace with Moore’s law.
- AI makes data collection easier than ever by aggregating disparate data sets and drawing ever more inferences from the patterns that are revealed.
- Year after year, new legislation is introduced to try to ban end-to-end encryption and force backdoors into every app we use.

But privacy tools aren’t keeping up.

We also face a troubling cultural shift: people insisting they “have nothing to hide” and dismissing the value of privacy entirely. This dangerous mindset is hurting us all.
Developers don’t feel a sense of urgency to build privacy tools because the public isn’t demanding them.
Some developers even fear working on privacy tools—being told “only criminals need privacy.”
And too few people are showing up to fight against bad legislation, because we’re not treating this threat with the seriousness it demands.

We have to change that.

When people tell us they have nothing to hide, we must show them why privacy matters.
This fight isn’t about secrecy—it’s about choice. Even if you don’t think you need privacy today, many people do. For activists, journalists, dissidents, protestors, whistleblowers, and anyone who doesn’t fit mainstream norms, privacy can mean life or death.

We fight for privacy so that the most vulnerable people in our society still have that choice, in a world where this option is rapidly vanishing. We fight to protect this right for our children and grandchildren so they, too, can choose privacy—whether they need it today or not.

Right now, we are dangerously close to losing this choice forever.
The tools needed to protect privacy aren’t advancing fast enough to keep up with the forces working to dismantle it.

I need your help.

We are at a tipping point. This erosion of privacy is not a distant threat—it’s happening now. Together, we can create a future where privacy is not a luxury for the few but a right for all. A future where you don’t need to conform to society’s expectations just to feel safe.

Let’s make sure tech and privacy can coexist freely—for everyone.

Please join me in Accelerating Privacy.

Being a privacy accelerationist means taking action now to ensure privacy tools don’t just survive—they thrive.
It means getting these tools into as many hands as possible, so everyone—no matter their income or technical skill—has access to privacy.
It means fighting back against bad laws designed to strip us of privacy, and ensuring the choice to protect yourself remains available to all.

It also means pushing back against the cultural shift that paints privacy as suspicious. We need to reverse the normalization of surveillance and remind people that privacy isn’t just good—it’s essential for a free society.

Privacy accelerationists know that we can no longer afford to wait for people to wake up to what’s at stake. We must act now to protect the tools and rights we’ll need tomorrow.

Please, lean into this fight with us today.

Support NBTV and Help Us Lead the Charge.

This week, we’re running a fundraising campaign for our non-profit educational platform, NBTV. At NBTV, we empower individuals with the knowledge and tools to protect their privacy in an increasingly surveillance-driven world. Through our mini-documentaries, workshops, eBooks, and tutorials, we teach practical steps to reclaim digital sovereignty.

Your support allows us to reach more people and ensure that privacy tools and education remain accessible to everyone.
Whether you can make a one-time or recurring gift, every contribution makes a difference. Everything we do is funded by community support.

Please consider supporting us at: nbtv.media/support

Together, we can build a world where privacy isn’t an afterthought—it’s an expectation.

Thank you for being part of this movement.

Learn more at NBTV.media