https://www.cnet.com/news/nsa-surveillance-programs-upstream-prism-edward-snowden-renewed-senate/ >With little debate, the US Senate voted 65 to 34 Thursday to renew the law authorizing key surveillance programs run by the National Security Agency. >The programs, known as Prism and Upstream, allow the NSA to collect online communications of foreigners outside the US. Prism collects these communications from internet services, and Upstream taps in to the internet's infrastructure to capture information in transit. Some communications from Americans and others in the US are collected in the process.