The FBI used National Security Letters -- a form of surveillance that privacy watchdogs call “frightening and invasive” -- to surreptitiously seek information on Google users, the web giant has just revealed. Google’s disclosure is “an unprecedented win for transparency,” privacy experts said Wednesday. But it’s just one small step forward.

This is the story of one of America's most controversial historical figures that ever lived. Not only was he the founder of the F.B.I., but he was also infamously known for his illegal wiretapping of phone lines, and blackmailing schemes to get whatever he needed. In fact, some people to this day say that he was arguably the most powerful man in the world, during his tenure....but even the most powerful of men have their own secrets to hide...

Former National Security Agency director William E. Odom, a retired general, first floated the idea back in 2002. In a later Washington Post op-ed headlined “Why the FBI Can’t Be Reformed,” Odom wrote that the bureau’s shortcomings in fighting the terrorist threat were systemic.