There just isn’t any significant difference between the Patriot Act and the Freedom Act.
Having the metadata kept by the companies is slightly better structurally than having it kept by the NSA.
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There are two significant differences. First, the federal government may no longer illegally collect information about it entire citizenry. Second, the Patriot Act was a giant leap into the world of big brother authoritarianism whereas the Freedom Act is a step back from Orwell’s 1984.
Corporations, primarily phone companies, collected the metadata previously, that has not changed. I prefer Rand Paul’s stance on the issue of privacy and the government’s strict obedience to the Constitution but a victory, even a small one, is a victory, nonetheless.
Go to any ‘privacy rights’ organization and you’ll find they don’t agree with you.
The changes were miniscule (though arguably an improvement).