What it applies to: any intelligence collection activity not otherwise authorized by court order (including FISA courts), subpoena, or similar legal process tha

What it applies to: any intelligence collection activity not otherwise authorized by court order (including FISA courts), subpoena, or similar legal process that is reasonably anticipated to result in the acquisition of a covered communication to or from a US person. What it does: permits the acquisition, retention, and dissemination of non-public communications indefinitely, unless any parties are US persons and the communication is NOT encrypted, in which case they can only be retained for 5 years. (There are some other exemptions to this 5 year rule.) Note that "incidentally acquired" appears only in the section title. The main question here for me is what exactly this applies to. Is "any intelligence collection activity not otherwise authorized" blanket permission to collect anything?