Why the NSA phone analysis is OK

WHY THE NSA PHONE ANALYSIS OS OK
[SOURCE: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, AUTHOR: Richard A. Falkenrath]
[Commentary] On Thursday, USA Today reported that three U.S. telecommunications companies have been voluntarily providing the National Security Agency with anonymized domestic telephone records -- that is, records stripped of names and place of residence. If true, the architect of this program deserves our thanks and probably a medal. That architect was presumably Gen. Michael Hayden, former director of the NSA and President Bush's nominee to become director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Large-scale analysis of anonymized data can pinpoint individuals -- at home or abroad -- who warrant more intrusive investigative or intelligence techniques, subject to all safeguards normally associated with those techniques.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06137/690628-109.stm