One is how VOIP is currently screwing things up for 'em. Apparently stuff like Vonage and Skype are pretty good at scrambling up packets before sending 'em along to other servers and/or clients machines --so good that the NSA spooks are quietly trying to muscle VOIP providers into adding back-door methods to decrypt packets. As it stands, the NSA appears to only be targeting the dumbest of terrorists -- the ones who are using their home land-lines to discuss the next Jihad.
What if VOIP/voice-chat providers just threw the encryption to users? What if, for example, Skype made up a plug-in spec that allowed you to make an audio codec of your own and attach it to the program. This codec would take the raw voice data and massage it to the plug-in writer's satisfaction. So if I wanted, for example, to add PGP encryption to my packets, I could write a plug-in to do it. Then the responsibility's out of Skype's hands.
Not that it'd stop the NSA from coming after you, but they'd then be dealing with a million hackers rather than a single company.
VZW != Verizon, so I wonder how much cell data is/was turned over.
All of this indicates idiots. Completely ignoring the issues of privacy, ethics, and the 4th amendment. Encryption is easy and effective. Dropping a huge national drag net, all of these data stores, and staff. All of this points to a mutli-billion dollar operation, that is doing SHIT. It is competely ineffective.
I guess the idea of schools, health care, social security and national debt means nothing.
Does the government know what ROI means?