Thanks for the reply! Just so I understand, the third party doctrine and pen register precedents are what these programs rely on? If so, why haven't they been d

Thanks for the reply! Just so I understand, the third party doctrine and pen register precedents are what these programs rely on? If so, why haven't they been defended on such grounds? The EFF, ACLU, and now Wikipedia have a whole bunch of lawyers who strongly disagree with your assessment, but they have been unable to argue these points in an adversarial court because the Executive has resisted even addressing the question. If the Executive's opinions are backed in strong legal precedent, it would save everyone a whole lot of time if they just got to those points.