Leaked document shows Verizon ordered to turn over phone records to NSA

WASHINGTON DC - The Verizon mobile phone company has been ordered to give the number of phone calls, the phone numbers and the frequency and length of those calls made between April and July 2013 to the National Security Agency, a document leaked to The Guardian shows. The obtained court document, clearly marked as "Top Secret," is a court order issued earlier this year by Judge Roger Vinson of the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

The order is said to be "extremely unusual" because it requires Verizon to give all, not simply that of specified persons suspected of criminal activity, "telephony metadata" to the federal agency during the specified time. It is not known whether Verizon was the only cell phone provider required to hand over such information, or whether the leaked court order is the only such order, or is one among a series of similar court orders.

The Guardian writes:

While the order itself does not include either the contents of messages or the personal information of the subscriber of any particular cell number, its collection would allow the NSA to build easily a comprehensive picture of who any individual contacted, how and when, and possibly from where, retrospectively.

It is not known whether Verizon is the only cell-phone provider to be targeted with such an order, although previous reporting has suggested the NSA has collected cell records from all major mobile networks. It is also unclear from the leaked document whether the three-month order was a one-off, or the latest in a series of similar orders.

The Guardian approached the National Security Agency, the White House and the Department of Justice for comment in advance of publication on Wednesday. All declined to comment. 

The secret document is posted HERE, and The Guardian's explanation of the document is HERE.