The other thing people are missing here about the Gellman story is that it’s about a specific case of the bomb maker, Shahzad. This wasn’t just random metadata collection. It was basically a stake out of Shahzad. Specifically targeted surveillance. It wasn’t some random voyeuristic activity. And of course the NSA can get a whole boatload of information during these operations. There are methods to minimize what’s swept up during these op.