(VOVworld) – US federal court judge Richard Leon in Washington ruled Monday that the National Security Agency (NSA)’s program spying on the telephones of 5 million people around the world including Americans runs afoul of the US Constitution and personal privacy.

NSA's spying is said to be unconstitutional. (Photo: Reuters)

This is the first verdict in a series of lawsuits concerning NSA espionage programs disclosed by former Central Intelligence Agency employee Edward Snowden.

In a 68-page brief, Leon ordered a stop to wiretapping and collecting records of subscribers of AT&T and Verizon and ordered destruction of all data already collected from Americans’ phone conversations.