Oh, here we go again. Lede:

The National Security Agency’s surveillance network has the capacity to reach around 75 percent of all U.S. Internet communications in the hunt for foreign intelligence

Having the capacity, and actually doing that are two separate and distinct things.

Having the capability to store all information is one thing. Actually storing the information? Completely different.

The NSA doesn’t want to waste its time chasing after your grandmother’s recipe for that awesome trifle she makes for the holidays, or your kids kindergarten graduation photos.

It wants to know what folks who have no good intentions are up to. It’s a waste of resources to try and sort everything imaginable into its databases and queries. Databases that contain garbage will output garbage. Databases that contain relevant data will generate better output.

Apparently a whole lot of people who are writing about tech issues and the NSA don’t understand the way these systems operate - especially Greenwald and Sirota.