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US votes to end NSA’s bulk collection of phone records

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By John Glenday, Reporter

May 14, 2015 | 2 min read

The US House of Representatives has voted to end the ability of its security services to bulk collect phone records and other data of citizens following presentation of a bipartisan bill calling for prohibition of such fishing expeditions.

Although passed the vote is not binding with the final decision on whether to abort the scheme resting on the shoulders of senator Mitch McConnell, who remains a defiant supporter of the information gathering technique.

At present there are splits in the American senate between hawks and doves advocating no change or arguing that the amendments do not go far enough to protect civil liberties.

If the bill is acted upon it would ban the National Security Agency from gathering metadata of telephone calls made by Americans – although such information would remain in the control of telecommunication firms such as AT&T and Verizon.

As such it would still be accessible to agents should they secure government approval to read data relevant to their investigation.

A deadline of 1 June is fast approaching when the Patriot Act, which authorised such data collection in the aftermath of September 2011, expires – focussing minds on agreeing a way forward..

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