Those interested in getting more background related to the Obama administration / NSA's phone and internet spying may want to read a couple of articles at the Scientific American website.
The header for the first article says:
Former NSA Whistleblower Sheds Light on the Science of Surveillance Thomas Drake talks about surveillance algorithms and the outlook for the latest alleged whistleblower Edward Snowden, drawing from his own NSA prosecution
It explains how much spying can be done collecting phone records, email headers and such - even if they don't look at content.
The header to the second article says:
How Are the NSA and Others Collecting and Using our Data? A metadata expert reveals the sobering implications of personal data collection by governments and companies
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Think of it this way. The government has collected data that tells them if you ever used means such as your phone or email to contact a phone or internet address linked to Wikileaks, Occupy Wall St., the Green Party, Amnesty, anti-war groups, pro-choice groups, marriage equality groups, unions, etc. They have what they need to make a political profile of you. Whether or not they are putting together such political profiles today, they've made it possible for a future Nixon to press a few buttons and create an enemies list of millions of citizens.