NSA's data collection doesn't apply to US Citizens -- until it does.

The NSA (National Security Agency) is harvesting hundreds of millions of contact lists from personal e-mail and instant messaging accounts around the world, many of them belonging to Americans, as reported in an article in the Washington Post yesterday. 

From the article: Although the collection takes place overseas, two senior U.S. intelligence officials acknowledged that it sweeps in the contacts of many Americans. They declined to offer an estimate but did not dispute that the number is likely to be in the millions or tens of millions.

What's my expectation of privacy in a cellphone call?

The answer: not very much at all. But you knew that already, when the NSA and related scandals broke earlier this year. The good news is that an organization has made the FBI release records of its of cellphone surveillance technology. Article here.

From the article: "The FBI says it uses the tools to track the locations of individual suspects. But the technology is controversial because, by design, it collects data on innocent bystanders’ phones, and it also interferes with cellphone signals in a way that may be prohibited under a section of the federal Communications Act."