It's OK if we wiretap Osama bin Laden. I want to know what he's planning - obviously not him nowadays, but that kind of thing. I don't care if it's a pope or a bin Laden. As long as investigators must go to a judge - an independent judge, a real judge, not a secret judge - and make a showing that there's probable cause to issue a warrant, then they can do that. And that's how it should be done.

The issue I brought forward most clearly was that of mass surveillance, not of surveillance in general.

I have used mass surveillance to target people, so I do know how it works.

I read these polls because civil-liberties organizations tell me I need to be aware of public opinion.

The only reason I do these interviews - I hate talking about myself, I hate doing this stuff - is because incredibly well-meaning people, whom I respect and trust, tell me that this will help bring about positive changes. It's not going to cause a sea change, but it will benefit the public.

As for my personal politics, some people seem to think I'm some kind of archlibertarian, a hyper-conservative.

So when they say I'm a low-level systems administrator, that I don't know what I'm talking about, I'd say it's somewhat misleading.