[rl3]

>However, legal protections against directly spying on the actual decrypted content of Americans are at least in theory stronger.

Yeah, because the definition of collection was redefined to mean accessing the full content already stored on their systems, post-interception. It wasn't considered collected until an analyst views it. Metadata was a laughable dog and pony show that was part of the same legal shell games at the time, over a decade ago now.

That said, from an outsider's perspective it sounded like the IC did collectively erect robust guard rails such that access to information was generally controlled and audited. I felt like this broke down a bit once sharing 702 data with other federal agencies was expanded around the same time period.

These days, those guard rails might be the only thing standing in the way of democracy as we know it ending in the US. AI processing applied to full-take collection is terrifying, just ask the Chinese.