ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Executive Order 12333

Okay kiddo, so imagine you're playing a game and you're the boss. You get to make up the rules and everyone has to follow them. That's kind of like what the President of the United States gets to do with something called an executive order.

Now, executive order 12333 is a very important rule that the President made up about how the government can collect and use information about what people are doing. That might sound really snoopy and weird, but it's actually supposed to help keep everyone safe.

Think of it this way - have you ever played a game of spies with your friends? You try to sneak around and figure out what they're doing without getting caught. Well, the government kind of plays that game too, just with people who might be trying to do bad things, like hurt other people.

To play this game, they need information - like who is talking to who, or what kind of messages they're sending to each other. Executive order 12333 lays out the rules for how the government can collect that information and what they can do with it. It's kind of like a big rulebook, with lots of different ways the government can collect information, but they have to follow the rules or they get in trouble.

Now, some people worry that these rules might be too broad or too intrusive - that the government might be looking at things they shouldn't, or trying to find out too much. That's why there are also rules that say the government can't just spy on anyone they want - they have to have a good reason, like if they think someone might be planning something dangerous.

So, executive order 12333 is a rule that the President made up about how the government collects information about what people are doing. It's like a big rulebook that lets the government play a game of spies to help keep everyone safe, but they have to follow the rules or they get in trouble.