NSA bulk surveillance to end Sunday

By Rudy Takala, Rudy Takala

Published December 20, 2015

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The National Security Agency's bulk collection of metadata will end at 11:59 p.m. on Nov. 28, marking the end of a long-running saga in the battle between privacy and security advocates.

The program's expiration was established by the USA Freedom Act passed by Congress in June. The NSA now will be required to obtain a warrant from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court on a "specific selection term" identifying a person, account, address or personal device that is of interest.

Under the previous program, the NSA collected records on every call made in the United States, including the time, duration, numbers called and other personally identifying information involved with cellular data. The agency claimed authorization for the program under Section 215 of the Patriot Act, passed in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, but operated the program in secrecy until it was exposed by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden in 2013.