NSA Surveillance Reflects a Broader Interpretation of the Patriot Act

Privacy advocates have warned for years about the kinds of surveillance revelations that were aired this week.

Of the two big U.S. government surveillance projects that came to light this week, the one that might seem less startlingthe fact that the Natioprismnal Security Agency gathers Verizons U.S. call recordstroubled privacy activists more than the report that the NSA can get user data such as e-mails and photographs held by Internet companies including Google and Facebook.