Data mining: What's the big deal?

Who is watching, listening and
even following us based on
our cell phone calling patterns?
And why?

Revelations of massive data collection on Verizon customers shed light on metadata mining.

• Revelation about ongoing government program highlights data gathering
• Mining programs search large collections of data for patterns
• Practice is used to trace terrorists
• Metadata mining isn't the ultimate in Big Brother watching you.  But it's close.

Revelations that the National Security Agency is secretly collecting communications records of millions of Verizon customers showcases metadata mining — the practice of using computer algorithms to search vast collections of data for patterns.

"Sure, they might find a criminal, but the Fourth Amendment stands for the idea that some invasions of privacy are not OK, even if it was a way to find criminals," she said.

Read more here.  By Donna Leinwand Leger and Gary Strauss, USA TODAY 10:10 p.m. EDT June 6, 2013