The National Security Agency was banned from collecting intelligence.
National Security Agency . The NSA is responsible for global monitoring , collection , and processing of information and data for foreign intelligence and counterintelligence purposes , a discipline known as signals intelligence ( SIGINT ) . Unlike the Defense Intelligence Agency ( DIA ) and the Central Intelligence Agency ( CIA ) , both of which specialize primarily in foreign human espionage , NSA does not unilaterally conduct human-source intelligence gathering , despite often being portrayed so in popular culture .