Washington ( CNN ) -- A top-secret court has renewed the authority of U.S. national security officials to collect telephone data as part of an anti-terror surveillance program that was exposed by intelligence leaker Edward Snowden . In an unprecedented disclosure , the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said it had decided to declassify and announce the program renewal , which occurs periodically but is never publicized . Snowden leaked classified information about the National Security Agency program to media outlets last month and then fled the country . He has been charged with espionage and remains in diplomatic limbo at the Moscow airport after seeking temporary asylum . His detailing of the surveillance effort that required communications giant Verizon to turn over caller information triggered outrage from civil libertarians , certain members of Congress and privacy groups concerned with the sweeping nature of the telephone snooping and a companion effort that monitors e-mails . Silicon Valley to feds : Disclose your data requests . Officials have said metadata on overseas-related communications does not include content but provides information about numbers dialed and received as well as length , date and time of calls . President Barack Obama says the government is not listening in on calls , and other officials have said said the massive collection program has helped to detect terror plots . The national intelligence office did not say when the periodic renewal order from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court was handed down , but NSA legal authority under the Patriot Act to collect telephone metadata surveillance was due to expire on Friday . The new transparency appears to be an effort by the Obama administration to be more forthcoming about the program , the administration of which was sharply criticized this week by members of the House Judiciary Committee . Opinion : Your biggest secrets are up for grabs . One influential Republican member of the panel , troubled by the sweeping nature of how the telephone surveillance had been carried out , questioned whether Congress would act when the surveillance program comes up for renewal in 2015 . Following the Snowden leaks , certain information about telephone collection was declassified `` in order to provide the public with a more thorough and balanced understanding of the program , '' a statement from the national intelligence office said . Privacy ? Forget it , we 're all celebrities online now . `` Consistent with his prior declassification decision and in light of the significant and continuing public interest '' in the matter , the office decided to declassify and disclose publicly that it had filed an application to renew telephone metadata collection `` in bulk '' and that the court `` renewed that authority . '' `` The administration is undertaking a careful and thorough review of whether and to what extent additional information or documents pertaining to this program may be declassified , consistent with the protection of national security , '' the statement said . Although Verizon was singled out in the Snowden leak on telephone surveillance , it is believed that the government obtains similar orders for other telecommunications providers . All must be periodically renewed by the FISA court . No communications companies were mentioned in the intelligence office statement on Friday .
Disclosure unprecedented as intelligence officials seek to be more transparent . National security court has periodically renewed collection of telephone data . Comment: Some members of Congress troubled by program , seek changes from Justice Dept. , NSA .