Using Metadata to Find Paul Revere
Whether phone billing records (what’s getting all the attention) are kept in big databases by telcos where they can be subpoenaed daily, or in big databases by the NSA where they just query at will, the fact is that the data exists whether or not it sits in one place or another. What matters is what’s actually -done- with the data.
No; how the data is obtained is important — otherwise there would be no need for the 4th amendment.
If the ends do not justify the means, so that the end hasn't [yet] been catastrophic cannot be used to validate the means; if the ends do justify the means, then why do we hold public/open criminal jury trials?
The 4th Amendment has to do with forcibly confiscating property, or forcibly searching something within someone’s residence. It has not adequately addressed information that people put out in fairly open sight of others.