Dev.SN

Sir Garlon writes:

According to the New York Times,

The Obama administration is preparing to unveil a legislative proposal for a far-reaching overhaul of the National Security Agency's once-secret bulk phone records program in a way that ... would end its systematic collection of data about Americans' calling habits. The bulk records would stay in the hands of phone companies, which would not be required to retain the data for any longer than they normally would. And the N.S.A. could obtain specific records only with permission from a judge, using a new kind of court order.

The Times' characterization of this as a "far-reaching overhaul" seems overstated, as the details of the proposal involve moving custody of the phone records from the NSA to the phone companies, and shortens retention time from five years to 18 months. The EPIC, ACLU, and EFF spokespersons quoted in the article reacted with guarded approval.

If submitted as planned, the bill would still need to pass the US House of Representatives and Senate.

According to EPIC, the NSA phone-records surveillance program is scheduled to end (in its current form) this Friday, though the Times article says President Obama plans to extend that deadline.