“In a widely read New York Times column published in November 2002, the conservative journalist William Safire blasted the program as an affront to civil liberties and a dangerous turn toward tyranny. In dire language, Safire warned that such a system would start to ingest every purchase, prescription, magazine subscription, bank deposit—even students’ grades. Safire dubbed it “the supersnoop’s dream”—an “Orwellian scenario” playing out in real time.”