The Obama administration is expected to unveil a proposal to halt the National Security Agency’s controversial bulk collection of Americans’ phone records, The New York Times reported Monday evening.
Senior administration officials told the Times that the proposal, if approved by Congress, would leave phone companies in charge of Americans’ data. The surveillance overhaul would also let companies decide how long to retain those phone records.
President Obama mapped out his vision for sweeping changes to U.S. surveillance policy in January, saying that the government should not hold telephone records. The president announced the NSA would be allowed to pull phone records only after receiving permission from a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court judge, but he stopped short of calls to dismantle the program entirely.
The new proposal would require phone companies to provide records under court order for numbers likely tied to a suspected terrorist or group, according to the Times.
Momentum for reform swelled after former NSA contractor Edward Snowden leaked troves of secret documents last June, exposing the breadth of the agency’s spying practices.
Leaders in the House Intelligence Committee are set to introduce a bi-partisan bill Tuesday that would also set limits on the bulk collection program. According to The Washington Post, the committee Chairman Rep. Mike Rogers, a Michigan Republican, and ranking Democrat, Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger of Maryland, sponsored a bill that would bar the government from collecting any form of electronic communication in bulk. It would also not require phone companies to hold data longer than they normally do.









