London, March 14 (RHC)-- More leaks from former NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden have identified key court orders that loosened restrictions on the collection of Americans’ private information.

Most pivotal is the July 2002 "Raw Take" order, which granted intelligence agencies the authority to share private information with others without having to delete details irrelevant to investigations.

In other news, President Barack Obama’s pick to head the National Security Agency, Vice Admiral Michael Rogers, has appeared before the U.S. Senate ahead of his upcoming confirmation vote. Rogers would replace General Keith Alexander, who is set to retire.

In his remarks, Rogers vowed to implement the proposed NSA reforms unveiled in the fallout over Edward Snowden’s disclosures.

If confirmed, Rogers would also lead the new Pentagon unit in charge of offensive cyber-operations, despite recommendations by a presidential advisory panel to separate the two posts. In his testimony, Rogers said every major combat command in the U.S. military is slated to have its own cyber-attack operations.