The Senate held a long-awaited hearing on government surveillance Wednesday just as new details emerged on the government spying exposed by National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden. The Guardian newspaper reports a secret NSA program called XKeyscore has allowed analysts to search with no prior authorization through vast databases containing emails, online chats and the browsing histories of millions of people. According to a slide presentation provided by Snowden, XKeyscore gives NSA analysts real-time access to “nearly everything a typical user does on the internet.” While the program is supposed to target overseas Internet users, The Guardian reports XKeyscore provides the technological capability, if not the legal authority, to target even U.S. persons for extensive electronic surveillance without a warrant. Speaking before the Senate Intelligence Committee, NSA Deputy Director John Inglis conceded that the bulk collection of phone records of millions of Americans under Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act has been key in stopping only one terror plot, not the dozens officials had previously said.