Data mining vs. connecting the dots

The NSA is collecting your email. Does it have to go offshore? No, they only have to have a reasonable belief it's going somewhere outside the U.S. Like, maybe, Canada, 'cause we know we can't trust anyone who's so damn polite.

Are they keeping your email for posterity? Who knows? Probably. I mean, they're scanning it for keywords and analyzing context, so the temptation to archive it has to be great. My suggestion: If you have anything you want to keep secret, disguise it as spam; there's no way they'll keep all of that.

Of course, the NSA data mining program is a state secret, so no one is allowed to know this for sure. It's just obvious. If someone could prove it, he might have standing to sue, and the Supremes already bolted out that procedural escape hatch, so that they didn't have to face the evisceration of the Fourth Amendment.

I'm sure they're not interested in your correspondence with Amy, Mistress of Pain. But just in case, better mention Cialis or Viagra whenever you beg her for mercy. And you'll have to tell her that you'll cut up your credit card if she keeps threatening to give you a jihad-on.