I personally think this whole issue boils down to how we classify "privacy" in regards to the digital age. Is Facebook or Verizon really private? Of course not. Corporations mine, compile, and share your personal data from the Internet and service providers like crazy. You're in their fist. But they're not looking to find terrorists. No, their intention is to manipulate every single aspect of your consumerist life, from what you "like" to what you eat to what drugs you feed your sick baby. People who spew vitriol about the government mining meta-data for possible terrorist links have misplaced their outrage. Go ahead and cry foul about a program that has probably stopped countless Terrorist plots, while doing nothing to you personally besides having your billing information floating around in Computer-land. Cry me a river.