I believe they were tracking cellphones and landlines. Almost everyone has cellphones. If I'm not mistaken they're still monitoring for keywords, calls from x to y, and what not, just /they/ don't get sent a list of everyone's shit; who they called, when, etc. The whole thing is just a pretty bow on making folks feel better because the "government" doesn't have their info, thing is the phone companies do so really there's no "more" privacy, it's just who you are trusting with your pseudo-privacy...
Personally, I don't particularly "care" if the government is reading my shit, listening to, or tracking my conversations, but at the same time I can certainly see the "slippery slope" argument merits, and I understand folks who want the [illusion] of privacy [since phone companies can do the same], or they fear the government being involved in their private conversations and lives. I usually err on the side of caution, but which "caution" gets a bit more tricky for me to decide...
That said, I actually trust the government more than my local phone company to respect my privacy, because I feel I have more... "ability" to argue against a government intrusion, than I would the local phone companies. A local phone company at best is just going to just say "We fired that employee, so very sorry," maybe throw some cash at me to shut up, but never actually change the policies that led to the "breach," where as uproar at the government might take longer, but they are more likely to get flack and be forced to change the policy - case in point. ~shrug~
