Well whatever else it is, PRISM is "valid legal channels" (even for foreign citizens). There's no generic authority to simply extract information on any desired

Well whatever else it is, PRISM is "valid legal channels" (even for foreign citizens). There's no generic authority to simply extract information on any desired foreign citizen even now. The law itself is transparent, though the court system actually implementing it is not, nor is the proceedings by which the law is drafted and debated. But with that in mind I'm not sure how much you're really asking to be different.