U.S. privacy board says NSA phone program illegal, should end - reports

Member of the protest group, Code Pink, Cayman Macdonald protests against U.S. President Barack Obama and the NSA before his arrival at the Department of Justice in Washington, January 17, 2014. REUTERS/Larry Downing

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. National Security Agency's bulk collection of phone records provides only minimal benefits to countering terrorism, is illegal and should end, a federal privacy watchdog said in a report to be released on Thursday, according to media reports.

The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, an independent government agency, has shared its conclusions with President Barack Obama, according to reports in the New York Times and Washington Post. The board was not immediately available for comment.