Obama to ask Congress for bill discontinuing NSA collection of phone records

President Barack Obama plans to ask Congress to end the bulk collection and storage of phone records by the National Security Agency but allow the government to access the "metadata" when needed, a senior administration official said on Monday.

If Congress approves, the Obama administration would stop collecting the information, known as metadata, which lists millions of phone calls made in the United States. The practice triggered a national debate over privacy rights when the extent of the surveillance program was exposed last year by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

Instead, the government would have to get permission from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to review data about the time and duration of telephone calls that it believes may be connected to terror attacks, according to the New York Times, which first reported the plan.

Obama, who on Monday met with world leaders in The Hague, has been grappling with a backlash to U.S. government surveillance programs since classified details about the extent of data-gathering were first leaked by Snowden.

repubs will blame that he started it

Hotwired wrote:

repubs will blame that he started it

In a sense he did.   Didn't a court rule it was legal for the National Security Agency to collect the records in 2013??   I am pretty sure they did cause all the lefties we overwhelmed with joy when that ruling was handed down. Now look, he wants to discontinue doing so, after he already acquired the records. Another Obama, I care about the people bullshit story and all his little merry lefties now support this. Got to say, "Those people on the left run a mean circle, no wonder they're dizzy half the time."

Hotwired wrote:

repubs will blame that he started it

In a sense he did.   Didn't a court rule it was legal for the National Security Agency to collect the records in 2013??   I am pretty sure they did cause all the lefties we overwhelmed with joy when that ruling was handed down. Now look, he wants to discontinue doing so, after he already acquired the records. Another Obama, I care about the people bullshit story and all his little merry lefties now support this. Got to say, "Those people on the left run a mean circle, no wonder they're dizzy half the time."