Spying on online sex lives raises red flags

The latest bombshell leak from former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden reveals that the NSA has been "gathering records of online sexual activity and evidence of visits to pornographic websites as part of a proposed plan to harm the reputations of those whom the agency believes are radicalizing others through incendiary speeches."

The top-secret document says that evidence of "viewing sexually explicit material online" and "using explicit persuasive language when communicating with inexperienced young girls" can be used to "call into question a radicalizer's devotion to the jihadist cause."

"Wherever you are, the NSA's databases store information about your political views, your medical history, your intimate relationships and your activities online," he said.

"Essentially, (the Huffington Post) story makes salient the fact that the NSA has access (and is using) a great deal of sensitive information about individuals that can be used in some way to embarrass, manipulate or harm them," said Ashkan Soltani, a privacy and security researcher who worked on several NSA stories for the Washington Post.

"While many feel that the government is justified in collecting this information in order to identify terrorist activities, I suspect many will question the use of this overreaching collection apparatus for monitoring the porn-watching activities of the masses," he added.