Sen. Rockefeller Lets Slip the Spying Truth: Drift Nets To Be Legalized | Threat Level | Wired.com

Sen. Rockefeller Lets Slip the Spying Truth: Drift Nets To Be Legalized | Threat Level | Wired.com: Rockefeller, the chief Democratic architect of the changes, explains:

Unlike traditional [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] application orders which involve collection on one individual target, the new FISA provisions create a system of collection. The courts role in this system of collection is not to consider probable cause on individual targets but to ensure that procedures used to collect intelligence are adequate. The courts’ determination of the adequacy of procedures therefore impacts all electronic communications gathered under the new mechanisms, even if it involves thousands of targets.