president and vice president arrived after that and spent the next two hours discussing the nsa surveillance programs with which these companies have been forced to comply. recently, many of these companies signed an open letter calling for reforms to the nsa's wide-reaching surveillance programs and transparency. those programs have treated america's tech giants like a grab bag from which to mine user data, e-mail, chat, video, photos, you name it. much of the time the nsa isn't asking for the data. it's telling. here are just a few specifics. from facebook, the nsa mines profiles or connections, according to the "new york times." from google, the nsa uses cookies to pinpoint hacking targets, according to the "washington post." from apple, the nsa made thousands of customer data requests and told apple to keep quiet about it. this meeting comes just a day after a federal judge ruled that the nsa's phone record collection probably violates the constitution. edward snowden, the nsa contractor who revealed these programs to the world applauded the court ruling yesterday. he also sent an open letter to