Documents provided by Edward Snowden to The New York Times and ProPublica appear to reveal that the U.S. Department of Justice authorized the NSA to expand its surveillance of international internet traffic in mid-2012. The secret DOJ memos direct the agency to "begin hunting on internet cables, without a warrant and on American soil, for data linked to computer intrusions originating abroad."
The revelation comes days after Congress approved the USA Freedom Act, which restored much of the government's surveillance programs while rolling back key provisions from the post-9/11 Patriot Act, which had allowed for the bulk collection of Americans' phone data without a warrant.
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