The reason this whole ordeal doesn't sit well with most United States citizens - myself included - is because data monitoring is a violation of our constitutional rights, in particular the 4th Amendment: "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." It is not the government's job to protect us, but the constitution's. Violating it under the pretense of protection leads some people to turn the other cheek, but you have to wonder where the line is drawn. What else are they willing to take away from us for our own good? I won't even get into everything you're more likely to have happen to you on US soil than be a victim of a "terror" attack (lightning strikes, shark bites, hit by train) or the fact that this surveillance had been going on for quite a while before Snowden, meaning it failed to stop the Boston bombing among other things.