Court renews NSA's phone surveillance capabilities

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A secret court renewed the National Security Agency's authority to monitor certain telephone data, CNN says.

The NSA is periodically required to have its surveillance authority renewed, and usually the process is kept secret. But on Friday the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said it made a one-time decision to declassify this particular authorization.

The NSA's domestic surveillance authority became a topic of intense focus after former agency contractor Edward Snowden leaked documents to the media detailing certain surveillance practices.