I hate to repeat a post, but the latest NSA revelations are more profound than I can describe

[jeff47]

32. You should assume that if it doesn't violate the laws of physics and is located outside the US...

the NSA or other spy agencies can do whatever you imagine.

But there's a few other things off in your post.

1. NSA is doing its own gathering. Previously we had had no evidence of that; all the documents said NSA was getting its data from the FBI and subject to the FBI's checks that were there to prevent surveillance of US citizens.

Different programs have different rules. If the collection is done outside the US, there are fewer safeguards in place.

The problem in this particular situation is Google was transmitting US data overseas....and there really isn't a good reason for them to do so.

2. At the level of this compromise, there is absolutely nothing from the tech side to prevent NSA from reading real-time content

As I started with, if it doesn't violate the laws of physics, and is physically located outside the US, you should assume the NSA can do anything you can imagine.

3. Former CIA agent Edward Snowden may have declined to release any documents about the CIA's surveillance, but I wouldn't trust that for a second. You can count on Langley to be doing even worse things than Ft. Meade.

Probably not. The NSA is the technical branch. The CIA is the "people" branch. The CIA is going to get technical information and support from the NSA if needed, but they get their information "the old fashioned way" - spies.