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[intaglio]

75. This has little to do with the 4th Amendment

Metadata is not private communication, it is information about that communication. In exactly the same way an envelope displays information about the sender, the the addressee, the method of sending, the route (air or surface mail), the size of the contents and sometimes even the contents (fragile, do not bend etc)

Metadata is PUBLIC information and, unless new laws are enacted, you can no more stop the examination of that than you can stop the Post Office looking at an envelope. Additionally any new law will have to allow private companies to examine the meta because that is how the internet and most mobile phone services operate.

What is worse is that you are so fooled by the surface glitter of Snowden's unoriginal whistleblowing and so hypnotised by the M$M coverage that you ignore equally legal but far more intrusive monitoring carried out by other means.

I repeat, Snowden's information originally came out in 2007, got some publicity and then dropped from public awareness precisely because it is a non-issue.

Snowden is not a hero, he is just someone who is either making a quick buck or who is after his 15 minutes of fame. I repeat calling him a "hero" devalues an important word.