The public debate over our government’s surveillance programs has reached remarkable heights since the first set of NSA disclosures in June 2013 based Edward Snowden’s leaks. Since then, more disclosures by the press and government have illuminated our government’s vast and invasive surveillance apparatus.

“These documents stand as primary source evidence of our government’s interpretation of its authority to engage in sweeping surveillance activities at home and abroad, and how it carries out that surveillance,” says ACLU.

The ACLU hopes to facilitate this debate by making these documents easily accessible to the public — and understandable.

“Toward that end, today we are launching the NSA Documents Database,” ACLU announced.

“This tool will be an up-to-date, complete collection of previously secret NSA documents made public since last June. The database is designed to be easily searchable – by title, category, or content – so that the public, researchers, and journalists can readily home in on the information they are looking for.

“We have made all of the documents text-searchable to allow users to investigate particular key words or phrases. Alternatively, the filter function allows users to sort based on the type of surveillance involved, the specific legal authorities implicated, the purpose of the surveillance, or the source of the disclosure. For example, you can have the database return all documents that both pertain to ‘Section 215″ and “Internal NSA/DOJ Legal Analysis.’ We will update the database with new documents as they become available to the public.

The fact is, says ACLU, most of the documents in this database should have never been secret in the first place.

“Now, with newfound access to these records, we can educate ourselves about the true nature and scope of government surveillance in its many forms. This database will serve as a critical tool with which we will hold our government accountable.”

Below, Edward Snowden is seen as others at South By Southwest Film Festival saw him, followed by an overwhelming standing ovation, despite technical challenges since he is exiled from his home in the United States.

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