What's all this NSA data collection about?
It's about using the collected metadata to build social networks.
The NSA has been creating maps of American citizens' social networks
Why do they want to do that? What could social networks be used for in the hands of government? Consider:
Using Metadata to Find Paul Revere
How will such capabilities be used now? How They Hunt
Is it already too late?
It's going to come as a surprise to some people that they've been placed on various 'naughty' lists based on their associations. I'm sure some are probably going to be dinged on their 'how slavish is this citizen unit' score for their association with me, for instance.