The Obama administration on Wednesday released formerly classified documents outlining a once-secret program of the National Security Agency that is collecting records of all domestic phone calls in the United States, as a newly leaked N.S.A. document surfaced showing how the agency spies on Web browsing and other Internet activity abroad.

The National Security Agency declassified more documents that shed light on formerly secret programs that collect a vast amount of metadata on the phone calls made in the United States, as well as the electronic communication of foreigners.

In a statement, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said the release was "in the public interest."

The most significant document is a 17-page ruling (pdf) by the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court that outlines so-called minimization procedures, or safeguards, the government must

A broad range of officials including those outside the NSA potentially have access to the agency's bulk phone records, according to newly declassified documents that also show the agency has had "compliance problems" with these databases in the past.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence on Wednesday released three previously secret documents, just as intelligence officials began to testify on Capitol Hill at a high-profile Senate hearing on government surveillance.
They begin to