Rand Paul made a surprisingly helpful quiz about NSA spying

Can the NSA spy on you? Take a guess.

Eric Geller

Updated on May 28 2021 5:46 pm CDT

Republican presidential candidate Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) wants people to know about the sweeping powers that the National Security Agency possesses. In an effort to get young people to pay attention to the NSA—and, a cynic might argue, to his campaign—Paul’s staff whipped up a short quiz.

Each of the five questions deals with a different type of surveillance authority: browsing history, phone-number tracking, rooftop communications interception posts, video-game chat-room monitoring, and physical electronics interception and modification.

Hint: Each question asks whether the NSA has the relevant authority, and each answer, predictably, is “Yes.”

Rand Paul For President

Photo via EFF Photos/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

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Eric Geller

Eric Geller is a politics reporter who focuses on cybersecurity, surveillance, encryption, and privacy. A former staff writer at the Daily Dot, Geller joined Politico in June 2016, where he’s focused on policymaking at the White House, the Justice Department, the State Department, and the Commerce Department.