To comment on just one part: "Obama said he's ordered a plan to be drafted that would shift that data to some other entity." (From http://www.npr.org/blogs/thet

To comment on just one part: "Obama said he's ordered a plan to be drafted that would shift that data to some other entity." (From http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/01/17/263357572/coming-up-obama-outlines-nsa-changes http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/01/17/263357572/com...) In some sense, who collects, stores, and accesses the data is important. But it seems more important to look at the culture, rules, and oversight in place. Asking anyone to design such a system is daunting. Let's say, for the point of argument, that specific, limited, legal, accountable collection is the primary goal and we could design a new system to accomplish that. What are some of the best designs of security protocols and entity structures to protect this information? How far can you get with correct system administration policy? I suspect you need quite a bit beyond currently available tools.