The Infinite Brief

Due to “technical irregularities” in its data, the agency said, it possessed certain records it had no authority to receive.

As of May 23, the NSA began deleting all of these type of records collected after 2015 under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

The NSA is authorized to collect certain data from telecom companies under Title V of FISA and through the USA Freedom Act of 2015. Under the Freedom Act, bulk data about U.S. phone calls and text messages remains in the hands of telecom companies.

The NSA is only permitted to collect very specific data, such as call records of surveillance targets and their contacts or of those suspected of terrorism.