That said, I agree that the spying thing is spooky. However, I read from an article on Blue State Journal (a progressive news source) that, like police searches, that these spy things require using warrants.
The problem is they only have to get a warrant from the FISC, which is a secret court that basically functions as a rubber stamp on approving whatever the hell the administration wants to do. In 2012 it heard 1,856 proposals. How many did it approve? Every single one.
Since it was created in 1978, it has rejected only 11 surveillance requests out of 33,900.
For some reason, I'm not reassured the FISC is looking out for our privacy.