and this makes sense HOW?

the patriot act is being expanded. The FBI has gained new powers to demand documents from companies without a judge's approval, as well as the ability to designate subpoenas as secret and punish disclosure of their existence with up to one year in prison. Would someone please explain to me how this actually might stop terrorism? i'm lost here. Since the beginning of the Patriot Act, we have been told that this legislation was necessary to prevent terrorists from getting their hands on information. But it seems to me that those making the laws and giving out powers reminiscent of the McArthy age have no real understanding of how information is retrieved. i mean, how can the Patriot Act stop anything when we have resources such as 3D mappings of major cities? it all seems very short-sighted, a misapplication of legislation at the best, and a wholesale dismissal of basic tenets of the Constitution at worst.