BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — A human rights group is criticizing a phone tapping agreement between Romania's intelligence agency and the high court, saying it exposes ordinary citizens to potential abuse.

The court, prosecutors and the Romanian Intelligence Service signed a secret protocol in 2009 in which the agency promised to provide technical infrastructure for prosecutors and protect classified data obtained from legal phone and electronic tapping. The agreement was published Monday.

The Human Rights in Romania-Helsinki Committee Association criticized the deal Tuesday, saying close links between the courts and intelligence agents could lead to civil rights' abuses. It noted that the court had rejected just one of 26,500 phone tapping requests made on national security grounds.

Senior members of the ruling Social Democratic Party claim 6 million people have been tapped in recent years.