Ahead of a last-minute effort by a bipartisan group of lawmakers to extend three expiring provisions of the Patriot Act, Truthdig Editor-in-Chief Robert Scheer, National Security Agency whistleblower William Binney and Truthdig columnist Bill Blum discuss the NSA’s ability to ignore the provisions, stockpile information and switch off our cellphones at will.

“They can do anything with your cellphone once they have your SIM card and your key,” Binney, who appeared in the Oscar-winning documentary “Citizenfour,” explains. “They can download an implant that says once you turn off your machine, I can turn it on and listen but make it look like it’s turned off.”

Find out exactly what is meant by “standard operating procedure 303”:

–Posted by Jenna Berbeo