The U.S. government has obtained a top secret court order that requires Verizon to turn over the telephone records of millions of Americans to the National Security Agency on an `` ongoing daily basis , '' the UK-based Guardian newspaper reported Wednesday . The four-page order , which The Guardian published on its website , requires the communications giant to turn over `` originating and terminating '' telephone numbers as well as the location , time and duration of the calls . The order , published on the newspaper 's website , does not require the contents of conversations to be turned over . CNN has so far been unable to independently verify the authenticity of the document . If genuine , the order gives the NSA blanket access to the records of millions of Verizon customers ' domestic and foreign phone calls made between April 25 , when the order was signed , and July 19 , when it expires . Verizon spokesman Edward McFadden declined to comment on the report . According to the document published by The Guardian , Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act ( FISA ) Court Judge Roger Vinson signed a `` Secondary Order '' granting an FBI request for access to the records . The FBI did not respond to a CNN request for comment . The NSA told CNN said it will respond `` as soon as we can . '' The order does not say why the request was made , but it bans the government and Verizon from making the contents public . `` As far as we know , this order from the FISA court is the broadest surveillance order to ever have been issued : it requires no level of suspicion and applies to all Verizon subscribers anywhere in the U.S. , '' the Center for Constitutional Rights said in a statement released shortly after the story broke . `` It also contains a gag order prohibiting Verizon from disclosing information about the order to anyone other than their counsel . '' Former Vice President Al Gore also criticized the move . `` In the digital era , privacy must be a priority . Is it just me , or is secret blanket surveillance obscenely outrageous ? '' he said in a post on Twitter . The order is allowed under the Patriot Act , and it is not the first time such an action has been taken . In 2006 , it was revealed that the NSA was secretly collecting telephone records as part of an effort to root out potential terror plots . Reacting to Wednesday 's disclosure , the American Civil Liberties Union called for an immediate end to the order and a congressional investigation into the move . `` It 's a program in which some untold number of innocent people have been put under the constant surveillance of government agents , '' Jameel Jaffer , the ACLU 's deputy legal director , said . `` It is beyond Orwellian , and it provides further evidence of the extent to which basic democratic rights are being surrendered in secret to the demands of unaccountable intelligence agencies . '' The news about the Verizon order comes as the Obama administration is under fire following revelations that the Justice Department seized two months of telephone records of a number of Associated Press reporters and editors , saying the requests were part of an investigation into the leak of classified information . Justice officials have n't specified the leak that triggered the probe , but the AP has said it believes the investigation focuses on its account of a foiled plot to bomb a U.S. airliner in May 2012 .
The Guardian newspaper says it has obtained a top secret court order . The order gives the NSA blanket access to records of millions of Americans , the newspaper says . Comment: Al Gore , the ACLU and others are criticizing the order .