The Obama administration is planning to permit the National Security Agency to share with other US intelligence agencies the private communications it collects from foreigners’ phone calls and messages, according to a report.
The change would give access to intercepted data to more intelligence analysts, the New York Times reported.
The messages include communications that cross network switches in the United States and those that come from other sources overseas.
The change would lower current restrictions on sharing such messages, and has drawn criticism from civil-liberties advocates who fear some calls and messages sent by US citizens may be among the bulk data swept up.