The Surveillance State

I had always assumed that the US government had the capacity to listen in (or look at) electronic communication that would be considered by most to be private, that would include phone calls, emails, video chats, in fact, all Internet transmissions, and felt that scrutiny would only amp up after the horror of September 11, 2001. I have mixed feelings about the interception by the government of so much intrusive information. A government representative said a terror attack had been prevented because of the program but how much of our civil liberty was compromised to thwart one attack?