I agree, it is hard to know what to do. I called my congressman several times, including before every relevant vote. He voted to defund the NSA, was a co-sponsor the Freedom Act and then voted against it after it got gutted, for what it's worth.
Money is the language of power in American politics. If we want change, we need well-funded organizations that understand how to wield influence in Washington. I donate to the EFF and the ACLU.
Technology businesses also have money and know how to lobby. In fact, I think that's our strongest leverage point. Stop using the services of companies that work with the NSA or have architectures that enable surveillance. Tell them why you're doing it. I have been slowly divesting myself of known PRISM-collaborators including Google, Apple, Skype and Facebook (the ones I used). I deleted my Facebook account. I moved my email to Fastmail.fm. I started using startpage.com. I maximized the opt-out in my Google account. I installed CyanogenMod. This will be my last Apple laptop. I stopped using Dropbox and switched to ownCloud. There is still further to go. There are services where I haven't found viable open/private/secure alternatives (maps, video chat, youtube is ubiquitous). I got SSL certificates (free) for my site and set up a Tor hidden service.
I started using and supporting security and privacy oriented technologies. I spun up a Tor relay on my VPS to donate the unused bandwidth to the Tor network. I started routing my email and chat connections through Tor. I started using TextSecure and OTR. (Sadly, almost nobody I know use them.)
One of the best parts of cancelling my Google Apps account was that it asked for feedback. I wrote that while I love the service, as a foreigner I can't in good conscience use it while the political environment in the USA is what it is. I doubt it will change anything, but it's something I guess.
Money is the language of power in American politics. If we want change, we need well-funded organizations that understand how to wield influence in Washington. I donate to the EFF and the ACLU.
Technology businesses also have money and know how to lobby. In fact, I think that's our strongest leverage point. Stop using the services of companies that work with the NSA or have architectures that enable surveillance. Tell them why you're doing it. I have been slowly divesting myself of known PRISM-collaborators including Google, Apple, Skype and Facebook (the ones I used). I deleted my Facebook account. I moved my email to Fastmail.fm. I started using startpage.com. I maximized the opt-out in my Google account. I installed CyanogenMod. This will be my last Apple laptop. I stopped using Dropbox and switched to ownCloud. There is still further to go. There are services where I haven't found viable open/private/secure alternatives (maps, video chat, youtube is ubiquitous). I got SSL certificates (free) for my site and set up a Tor hidden service.
I started using and supporting security and privacy oriented technologies. I spun up a Tor relay on my VPS to donate the unused bandwidth to the Tor network. I started routing my email and chat connections through Tor. I started using TextSecure and OTR. (Sadly, almost nobody I know use them.)