Dunno if this has been addressed here recently. According to the article at the other end of the link below, secret monitoring on phone lines extend back to at least 1978, and since the Patriot Act have expended relentlessly, to include monitoring of internet forums.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-secret-surveillance-20130607,0,5263648.story?page=1&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A%20latimes%2Fnews%2Fnationworld%2Fnation%20%28L.A.%20Times%20-%20National%20News%29&utm_source=feedburner&track=rss

Also, accordingly, components of this spying were supposed to be up for review for the purpose of being removed. Not only has that not been done, but the opposite has taken place.

Interesting article and while not exactly new information, the scope of the intrusion continues to grow. The Senate appears to be the leading proponents of this, but no one in the .gov appears to object at all.