The White House maintains it had sufficiently briefed Congress on the Internet and phone data monitoring programs leaked last week, but many lawmakers vehemently disagree.

It isn't just privacy that is at risk in this new era of Big Data collection. Secrecy is a casualty too. It used to be classified documents were kept in a safe and seen by a select view. Now a top secret document can be accessed by hundreds, if not thousands, all with the click of a mouse. Because of that the modalities of spying have changed. Now analysts can take an infinite number of secrets with them by just putting them on a thumb drive, but it's a counter-intelligence nightmare.