it also casting a far wider net for people who cite information linked to those foreigners , like a little used e - mail address , according to a senior intelligence official .
critics of the law feared the nsa would use the law to conduct broad surveillance of americans ' international communications and , in the process , capture an unknown quantity of purely domestic communications .
the documents show that the nsa is conducting sweeping surveillance of americans ' communications , including their telephone calls and emails .
” if you mention a terrorist ’s e - mail address or phone number to a friend overseas , the nsa intends to find out .
the fisa amendment act , signed into law by president bush in 2008 , expanded the government 's authority to monitor americans ' electronic communications .
the nsa is sifting through most e - mail and text communications in and out of the country , and their search is n’t limited to americans who deal directly with foreign targets .
while it has long been known that the agency conducts extensive computer searches of data it vacuums up overseas , that it is systematically searching — without warrants — through the contents of americans ’ communications that cross the border reveals more about the scale of its secret operations .
government officials contended that the law , the washington — the national security agency is searching the contents of vast amounts of americans — and that it included robust safeguards to protect americans ' privacy .
photo : charles dharapak in response to edward snowden ’s leaks , the government has tried to calm americans by declaring that when it comes to online communications , “ only non - u.s. persons outside the u.s. are targeted .