Secret collection of bulk interception and collection of telephony metadata has been renewed by the US's surveillance court.

This comes after the June 5th release by Edward Snowden that showed the government was harvesting metadata from Verizon on all its subscribers. It is believed that other major telecommunication companies are also involved in the mass data collection scheme.

The government has portrayed the interception as being benign since it doesn't contain the content of the voice or text message. However, the value of this data is huge and allows for effectively tracking and profiling mobile users.

"Consistent with his prior declassification decision and in light of the significant and continuing public interest in the telephony metadata collection program, the DNI has decided to declassify and disclose publicly that the Government filed an application with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court seeking renewal of the authority to collect telephony metadata in bulk, and that the Court renewed that authority," FISA said.