I did not know this, and I really appreciate the link. However, since Echelon -- the instantiation of the technology to do so in the first place -- the NSA has

I did not know this, and I really appreciate the link. However, since Echelon -- the instantiation of the technology to do so in the first place -- the NSA has been intercepting and logging ANY AND ALL "signals" it can, foreign and domestic, the 4th Amendment (and whatever related laws) be damned. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_641A https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_641A, and the law that retroactively made it legal, discussed on HN previously: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5847166 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5847166. The Patriot Act was a piece of paper, just thin enough that the courts could point to it if cornered, in order to excuse anything the government did, in the name of terrorism. I don't know what they'll point to now, but I'm sure they'll find something. Meanwhile, the unrestrained wiretapping continues as it ever has. If you aren't using end-to-end encryption, your information is in a database at the NSA. Snowden proved it, and there has been little but gestures since his revelations.