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NSA starts dismantling phone data collection: Official

Sunday, 24 May 2015 4:39 AM [ Last Update: Sunday, 24 May 2015 4:55 AM ]

The Patriot Act, which allows the NSA to collect telephone records, was not extended by the Senate.

The National Security Agency has started to reduce its controversial bulk collection of Americans’ phone records after Congress failed to renew or change the program, officials said.

"We've said for the past several days that the wind-down process would need to begin yesterday if there was no legislative agreement. That process has begun," an official told ABC News on Saturday.

Section 215 of the Patriot Act allows the NSA to collect any telephone and business records relevant to a counterterrorism investigation.

The section, which expires at midnight on May 31, was rejected by the Senate on Saturday. The vote was 45-54, which fell short of the 60-vote threshold.

The Senate also blocked a bill, passed earlier by the House of Representatives, which could have halted the NSA surveillance program.

The Senate needed 60 votes in order for it to move ahead with the House bill, however, the vote was 57-42.

The data collected includes phone numbers and duration of a call without its content or personally identifying information.

The extent of the NSA’s spying activities was revealed in June 2013, when Edward Snowden, a former NSA contractor, began leaking classified intelligence documents showing massive collections of phone records of Americans and foreign nationals as well as political leaders around the world.

AT/HRJ

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