On Wednesday, The Guardian published a secret order issued by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court allowing the National Security Agency (NSA) to demand vast swaths of metadata from Verizon. The order, which specifies that Verizon hand over the information on an “ongoing, daily basis,” encompasses the phone records pertaining to all of Verizon's American customers, whether the communications are between US-based callers, or between a US caller and an international caller.

The order is unique in its broad demands and shows that the NSA is amassing a hoard of metadata that includes the phone numbers of both parties, the duration of the conversation, the time of the conversation, location data, telephone calling card numbers, and unique identifiers pertaining to the phones. While this order does not permit the NSA to listen to the conversation itself and also does not require Verizon to hand over the “name, address, or financial information of a subscriber or customer,” the metadata still offers more information about the phone calls of American citizens than many would feel comfortable handing over.

The document also contains a gag order preventing recipients from talking about the NSA's demands. Gag orders have been the subject of much controversy, and in March a federal judge in California ruled that such gag orders are unconstitutional. When that ruling was made, the judge gave the government 90 days to appeal before the ruling took effect.

This particular order was issued in mid-April, and expires on July 19, 2013. It is unclear whether other telecom companies have received similar notices, and it's also unclear whether this is a one-time deal or if orders such as these are recurring.

The British newspaper also pointed out that this surveillance is permitted by a provision of the Patriot Act (50 USC section 1861) which allows the government access to “business records for foreign intelligence and international terrorism investigations.”

"The document shows for the first time that under the Obama administration the communication records of millions of US citizens are being collected indiscriminately and in bulk—regardless of whether they are suspected of any wrongdoing,” The Guardian wrote.

The paper also noted that it approached the NSA, the White House, and the Department of Justice for comment, and all declined. “The agencies were also offered the opportunity to raise specific security concerns regarding the publication of the court order,” the paper wrote. Verizon also declined to comment to The Guardian.