I think many people knew what was happening (Cypherpunks and EFF even before 2000) and the scale was pretty publicly clear when the massive tapping of ATT was revealed.
The ultimate threat to the privacy and security of US Citizens living in Country is that our Surveillance State can't keep its own secrets. I don't think it is unreasonable to believe that the China and Russia don't need to spy on the US government, it's citizens, or businesses, because we pay for the NSA to do it for them.
Don't develop any tool that you don't want used against you!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_641A
The ultimate threat to the privacy and security of US Citizens living in Country is that our Surveillance State can't keep its own secrets. I don't think it is unreasonable to believe that the China and Russia don't need to spy on the US government, it's citizens, or businesses, because we pay for the NSA to do it for them.
Don't develop any tool that you don't want used against you!