Since 9/11 it seems like my computer and internet connections are getting slower each day. Even despite the numerous upgrades I have made to my systems. Additionally, as a result of recent news about the NSA spying on American via phone records, internet cookies, and banking transactions I am beginnig to suspect they may have already teamed up with the likes of Microsoft to track and collect all information on American's PCs. If this is proven to be true it would explain a lot.
You asked a question and I gave you the answer. If you have any proof to the contrary then please provide it. The data from your PC would have to get to the NSA somehow. There are conspiracy nuts out there that watch every byte leaving their PC hoping to catch Microsoft doing something like this. There is no way that Microsoft could "track and collect all information on American's PCs" without someone noticing it. The amount of data you are talking about is huge. Its not possible. The answer is no.
Sorry to barge in, but when you say "there is no way," are you aware that Microsoft Genuine Advnatage is a piece of spywhere that sends Microsoft daily (as of now) information about what's installed on your PC? They've admitted as much. Google it. You'll see. And believe me, people have noticed it, though you can't uninstall it just yet and the contents of the data are less clear. There is absolutely no proven link to the NSA. But if the NSA can get AT&T to cooperate with phone records, why can't they get Microsoft to do the same? As to whether WGA slows down someone's computer, I doubt it. More likely, it's just your run of the mill spyware for marketing crap. Also, Windows does get slower with age and cruft. The surest way to fix it is to completely re-install your OS with a freshly formatted drive, painful as it is. Maybe start with a spyware removal tool.
Yes I am aware of WGA and what it does and I stand by my statement. In fact if anything WGA and the controversy surrounding it proves my point that Microsoft can't get away with anything because too many people are watching what they do very closely. Although you quoted only part of my statement the entire quote is You will also note that I quoted the OP's statement there. I am not talking about collecting a few pieces of key information and transmitting that back to Microsoft or the NSA. They could probably get by with that, at least for a while. Even if was sent encrypted in time it would eventually get noticed and the contents discovered but that's a separate discussion and not what is being discussed here. What the OP said was "all information on American's PC's". That means if I have a 100GB hard drive that 100GB needs to be sent to the NSA. Its not going to happen.