American emails and texts mentioning certain foreign people are no longer going to be collected by the NSA without a warrant. The spy agency has been collecting those messages in cases where US citizens are discussing a foreign individual under surveillance.
This program was revealed by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, leading to a lot of criticism. After the New York Times reported on the agency’s abandonment of the program, the NSA issued a confirmation.
NSA will no longer collect certain internet communications that merely mention a foreign intelligence target. This information is referred to in the Intelligence Community as “about” communications in Section 702 “upstream” internet surveillance. Instead, NSA will limit such collection to internet communications that are sent directly to or from a foreign target. – NSA
