ACLU parodies NSA programs in video

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is parodying the National Security Agency’s domestic surveillance programs in a video spoof posted for the holidays.

In a video posted to YouTube last week, the ACLU sings about the NSA to the tune of “Santa Clause is Coming to Town.”

“You better watch out, you better not Skype; you better log out; yeah, you better not type; the NSA is coming to town,” the song starts.

The video features people in Santa Claus costumes following pedestrians throughout a large city, listening to their conversations and watching them from bushes.

{mosads}Some may consider the song to overstate the NSA’s capabilities. Officials have repeatedly denied knowing the contents of Americans’ communications, for example, and have instead clarified that they track the metadata behind them.

“They see you when you’re sleeping; they hear while you’re awake; they know who you call and who you write; so encrypt for goodness’ sake!” the song continues. 

The ACLU released the video in conjunction with an online petition it launched, urging people to press members of Congress to review the programs, which the ACLU considers too far reaching in scope.

“The good news is that the tide is turning in the fight to rein in all this runaway surveillance. Right now, there is legislation pending in the House and Senate that would go a long way to stopping the worst of the NSA’s excesses. So we need to turn up the pressure on Congress, which blindly gave the NSA too much spying power in the first place,” the ACLU said on its website.

As of Monday afternoon, more than 47,000 people signed the petition. The ACLU hopes to attract 50,000 in total.

An advisory panel, meanwhile, is expected to soon deliver a report examining the scope of NSA’s programs to President Obama and other senior White House officials.