Protesters rally against NSA's surveillance program

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Holding placards reading "Stop Mass Surveillance" and "Stop Mass Spying", crowds of protesters joined the Rally Against Mass Surveillance in Washington D.C. on Saturday (October 26) to march against the U.S. National Security Agency's (NSA) surveillance program.

Organizers of the rally, a coalition of groups called StopWatching.Us, say they want Congress to rein in the NSA.

The agency's operations have come under intense scrutiny since disclosures this spring by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden that the U.S. government collects far more Internet and telephone data than previously publicly known.

Charges the NSA accessed tens of thousands of French phone records as well as monitored German Chancellor Angela Merkel's phone have caused outrage in Europe.

Germany said on Friday it will send its top intelligence chiefs to Washington next week to seek answers from the White House.

Merkel demanded Washington strike a "n