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WASHINGTON (AP) The nations signals intelligence agency said Friday it will no longer collect certain communications moving on the internet simply because they mention a foreign intelligence target, in a move applauded by privacy advocates.

The National Security Agency said it will now limit such collection to internet communications sent directly to or from a foreign target. It wont permit intelligence officials to collect emails, texts and other communications between two people who mention a target by name, but are not themselves targets of surveillance.

The changes, first reported by The New York Times, are designed to reduce the chances of sweeping up communications of U.S. citizens or others in a way that some critics charged was overly broad.

Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden or Oregon, a leading NSA critic, said the practice of collecting information for mentioning a target was a magnet for abuse.

This is something Ive been working to get rid of for years and years, Wyden told The Associated Press in an interview Friday.

Since 2008, U.S. intelligence agencies have relied on Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act as they conduct surveillance on specific foreign targets outside the United States to collect intelligence on issues ranging from terrorism to cybersecurity.

The NSA said an in-house review of Section 702 activities uncovered several inadvertent compliance lapses. It said such incidents were properly reported to Congress and the federal court overseeing foreign intelligence surveillance activities. The court issued two extensions as the NSA worked to fix the problems and recently approved the changes.

Wyden commended the NSA for recognizing the problem and said he would work to make the changes part of law. Section 702 is set to expire at the end of this year and lawmakers are weighing its reauthorization.

Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the ranking Democrat on the House intelligence committee, called the decision a sound response to the technological challenges of the program and the unintended collection of certain U.S. person information.

Concern over the Americans communications renewed this year as the Trump administration accused the intelligence community of improperly revealing the names of Americans that came up through incidental collections.

In February, President Donald Trump fired his national security adviser, Michael Flynn, after saying he lied about phone conversations with a Russian diplomat. But Trump accused Susan Rice, former President Barack Obamas security adviser, of illegally unmasking Flynns identity before details of the conversations were leaked to the press.

FBI Director James Comey has said the complaints about unmasking arent related to Section 702 of the foreign intelligence surveillance law.

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Associated Press writer Eileen Sullivan contributed to this report.

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NSA to stop collecting some internet communications - WIAT 42

The National Security Agency is scaling back the way it spies on some communications over the Internet.

The NSA says it discovered what it called "lapses" in compliance with U.S. law.

They're called "about" communications: The NSA not only watches messages traveling to and from a foreign target, but those that mention one.

That can mean the NSA sometimes sweeps up data from Americans without a warrant. In the past, officials said the spy agency was still mindful of citizens' privacy.

But now NSA says it has discovered "several inadvertent compliance lapses," which it reported to Congress and a secret court that oversees intelligence gathering.

There aren't many more details, but the NSA now says it will, quote, "stop the practice to reduce the chance that it would acquire communications of U.S. persons or others who are not in direct contact with a foreign intelligence target."

Here's the full statement from the NSA:

NSA Stops Certain Foreign Intelligence Collection Activities Under Section 702

The National Security Agency is instituting several changes in the way it collects information under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

Section 702, set to expire at the end of this year, allows the Intelligence Community to conduct surveillance on only specific foreign targets located outside the United States to collect foreign intelligence, including intelligence needed in the fight against international terrorism and cyber threats.

NSA will no longer collect certain internet communications that merely mention a foreign intelligence target. This information is referred to in the Intelligence Community as "about" communications in Section 702 "upstream" internet surveillance. Instead, NSA will limit such collection to internet communications that are sent directly to or from a foreign target.

Even though NSA does not have the ability at this time to stop collecting "about" information without losing some other important data, the Agency will stop the practice to reduce the chance that it would acquire communications of U.S. persons or others who are not in direct contact with a foreign intelligence target.

Finally, even though the Agency was legally allowed to retain such "about" information previously collected under Section 702, the NSA will delete the vast majority of its upstream internet data to further protect the privacy of U.S. person communications.

The changes in policy followed an in-house review of Section 702 activities in which NSA discovered several inadvertent compliance lapses.

NSA self-reported the incidents to both Congress and the FISC, as it is required to do. Following these reports, the FISC issued two extensions as NSA worked to fix the problems before the government submitted a new application for continued Section 702 certification. The FISC recently approved the changes after an extensive review.

The Agency's efforts are part of its commitment to continuous improvement as we work to keep the nation safe. NSA has a solemn responsibility and duty to do our work exactly right while carrying out our critical mission.

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NSA To Limit Some Collection Of Internet Communication - KUCB

The NSA Says It Is Ending One of Its Most Controversial Spying Practices, But It Could Be Resurrected if Congress ... Common Dreams The NSA indicated Friday that it will halt one of its most controversial spying practices, related to its surveillance of virtually all text-based communications entering or exiting the United States. If true, this is a significant step forward in the ...

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The NSA Says It Is Ending One of Its Most Controversial Spying Practices, But It Could Be Resurrected if Congress ... - Common Dreams

Mashable

Snowden takes a bow for whistleblowing after NSA pulls back surveillance Mashable Before Friday, the NSA had a policy of sucking up texts and emails exchanged between Americans and people outside the U.S., with impunity, if those communications even mentioned non-American targets of NSA surveillance. The agency did not require a ...

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Snowden takes a bow for whistleblowing after NSA pulls back surveillance - Mashable

New York Times

NSA Halts Collection of Americans' Emails About Foreign Targets New York Times Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat who has long been a critic of N.S.A. surveillance, said that he would introduce legislation codifying the new limit. The law that authorizes the program, the FISA Amendments Act, is up for renewal at the end of 2017. NSA to stop collecting some internet communicationsCNBC NSA ends controversial collection of Americans' emails that mention foreign targetsTechCrunch The NSA will stop reading American emails that mention intelligence targetsThe Verge CNET -The Atlantic -KUAR all 40 news articles »

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NSA Halts Collection of Americans' Emails About Foreign Targets - New York Times