NSA bulk phone record collection targeted with upcoming legislation

The NSA's bulk phone records collection has been a hot topic since first surfacing amidst the Edward Snowden leaks last year. According to a source that has spoke to The New York Times, it is also the topic of upcoming legislation to be proposed by President Obama that would put an end to the controversial program.

The information comes from someone said to be a senior administration official, and under the proposed legislation, the bulk collection of American phone records would cease. A new court order variety would be instituted, and with that the NSA would be able to get only specific phone records under a judge's authorization.

The bulk collection would end, and carriers would not be required to keep the records for any longer than normal. This follows in line with President Obama's speech in January, when he tasked the Department of Justice with developing a plan to stop the bulk collection. The plan needed to be made by March 28 — a couple days from now.

This won't spell the end to the program, and FISC will also be asked to renew it for at least one more 90-day cycle, says the source. Instead, the legislation would bring about a big change to how the program operates. As for the new court order, it would make carriers quickly provide records on a continuing basis for any particular subscriber that is targeted by the order.

SOURCE: The New York Times