To be fair, it was still hard to hide "metadata". If you met someone in person, or sent a letter, then it would be hard to conceal that from someone surveiling

To be fair, it was still hard to hide "metadata". If you met someone in person, or sent a letter, then it would be hard to conceal that from someone surveiling you The difference was they had to be actively targeting you beforehand, and it was an ongoing high expense per target. Now we bulk collect data on the basis that someone might be guilty in the future