White House defends monitoring millions of phone calls after publication of Verizon court order
By North America correspondent Jane Cowan, wires
The Obama administration says its secret collection of phone records of tens of millions of Americans is a necessary step in combating terrorism.
The comments come after The Guardian newspaper published a secret court order directing Verizon - one of America's largest phone companies - to hand over telephone data to the FBI.
Without directly confirming the report, the White House has broadly defended the seizures of such information as a "critical tool in protecting the country from terrorist threats".
The order requires Verizon to disclose telephone numbers and the time and duration of calls to the National Security Agency (NSA).
That means calls within the US and between the US and other countries are given to the NSA on an "ongoing, daily basis".
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http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-06-07/us-secret-phone-record-collection/4739172