Reports: NSA gets under 30 percent of phone data

WASHINGTON (AP) — The National Security Agency collects less than 30 percent of calling data from Americans despite the agency’s massive daily efforts to sweep up the bulk of U.S. phone records, two U.S. newspapers reported Friday.

Citing anonymous officials and sources, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal both said the NSA’s phone data collection has had a steep drop-off since 2006. According to the newspapers, the government has been unable to keep pace since then with a national surge in cellphone usage and dwindling landline use by American consumers.