My confusion is regarding the "entire US population" claim because I have never heard anything like this. I could have missed it and would like to know if that

My confusion is regarding the "entire US population" claim because I have never heard anything like this. I could have missed it and would like to know if that is the case. The closest thing I remember is the metadata issue specifically with identifiers related to Verizon account holders. My understanding is that the rules were tightened with regards to US citizen metadata as a result of this disclosure from Snowden, which is probably the best possible outcome (Short of it not happening in the first place). Again, if I am off base and there was additional approval for any sort of surveillance on the data of the entire USA, I am very interested in learning more.