As Congress increasingly scrutinises US surveillance programmes, the government on Wednesday released declassified documents on the mass collection of telephone data in a rare glimpse into the world of intelligence gathering.
The US Director of National Intelligence released three declassified documents that authorised and explained the bulk collection of telephone data, one of the surveillance programmes revealed by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.
The declassification was made in the "interest of increased transparency," the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in a statement.
The documents released on Wednesday include 2009 and 2011 reports on the National Security Agency's "Bulk Collection Program," carried out under the US Patriot Act.
In addition, they include an April, 2013 order from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which directed communications company Verizon to hand over data from millions of Americans' telephone calls and described how that data should be stored and accessed.
The declassified documents were initially sent to congressional committees and included warning notes saying the information contained in them describes "some of the most sensitive foreign intelligence collection programmes conducted by the US government".
The US Director of National Intelligence released three declassified documents that authorised and explained the bulk collection of telephone data, one of the surveillance programmes revealed by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.
The declassification was made in the "interest of increased transparency," the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in a statement.
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Much of what is contained in the documents has already been divulged in public hearings by intelligence officials as they sought to detail what was initially disclosed by Snowden.
The documents released on Wednesday include 2009 and 2011 reports on the National Security Agency's "Bulk Collection Program," carried out under the US Patriot Act.
In addition, they include an April, 2013 order from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which directed communications company Verizon to hand over data from millions of Americans' telephone calls and described how that data should be stored and accessed.
The declassified documents were initially sent to congressional committees and included warning notes saying the information contained in them describes "some of the most sensitive foreign intelligence collection programmes conducted by the US government".