Cindy Cohn and Bruce Schneier on LawFare published their article 25 Years of Mass Surveillance Is Enough. From the article:

One of the many legacies of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 is the government-wide shift from targeted surveillance—such as individual wiretaps or pen register/trap and trace orders—to mass surveillance techniques—such as tapping into the internet backbone or mass collection of telephone or internet metadata. The legal and technical architecture of modern mass surveillance, initially framed as a necessary defense against terrorist threats, has grown far beyond that justification and national security in general. Mass surveillance is now a routine tool used by law enforcement. (…)

The interrelation between private and governmental mass surveillance is worth examining. Surveillance is the business model of the internet; companies like Google and Facebook constantly spy on their users’ behavior. (…)

The article explains the role of the Patriot Act, the USA Freedom Act, Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and the FISA Amendments Act.

Suggestions for improvement are set out at the end of the article.