NSA Calls for an End to Mass Collection of U.S. Phone Data
Do you think the NSA's phone records collection program should end?
The National Security Agency (NSA) has recommended that the Trump administration end the agency’s mass collection of metadata from domestic text messages and phone calls, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.
Known as the Call Details Records Program, the mass collection of phone records was first authorized under Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act in 2001. It was subsequently reformed by the USA FREEDOM Act in 2015, and the current authorization is set to expire on December 15, 2019.
The Journal reports that NSA is recommending the program be concluded because it has become too difficult to maintain and raises legal concerns that outweigh its benefits. That follows a revelation by national security aide to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) that the NSA stopped using the program in late 2018, who also predicted that the White House won’t seek its reauthorization.
While the White House hasn’t yet announced whether it will allow the Call Details Records Program to lapse or fight for its reauthorization, bipartisan legislation in Congress would repeal it.
The Ending Mass Collections of Americans’ Phone Records Act (H.R. 1942), sponsored by Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI), would repeal the authorization of surveillance activities under Section 215. It’s cosponsored by Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), while a bipartisan companion bill has been introduced in the Senate by Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Rand Paul (R-KY).
— Eric Revell
(Photo Credit: iStock.com / wonry)
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