You said: "still trying to figure out how it is, them taking my data, will ever help them track down any terrorist". It won't, and I'm 99.999% sure they are not interested in your data. They are interested in anyone who calls, e-mails, or visits the website of a terrorist. So what is a sure fire way to intercept such a person? Given they have the computing power and the technology why not monitor record ALL such communications from and to suspected sources? This way you catch every single two-way communication. They order a pizza, the feds show up and interview the pizza man, they make a date w/ a local girl, the feds show up and intervierw the girl, they call thier unsuspecting nephew, the fed's show up and interview the kids parent.

In order to use this catch-all strategy they need to monitor ALL traffic. I have no idea what people have going on in thier own lifes that the idea of all thier phones calls, e-mails, skypes, and website traffic being traced -- the phone companies and e-m services have always had that capability - would cause them such concern.