je.st
news
USA Freedom Act curtails phone surveillance powers
2015-06-03 14:16:00| Telecompaper Headlines
(Telecompaper) The US Senate has approved The USA Freedom Act, curtailing the federal government's sweeping surveillance of American phone records, significantly scaling back national security policy formed after September 11 2001, the New York Times reported. President Barack Obama signed the measure hours after the bill passed, over fierce opposition from the Senate majority leader, which said the rules were still too intrusive. The bill cleared the Senate 67 to 32, with at least four opponents also voting no because they felt the bill did not go far enough. The bills will allow the government to restart surveillance operations and maintain surveillance power, but with new restrictions. For example, the government will need to get special permission to access phone records, the storage of which will now shift to phone companies. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court will, for the first time, have to declassify some of its most significant decisions, and outside voices will be allowed to argue for privacy rights before the court in certain cases.
Tags: phone
usa
act
freedom
Category:Telecommunications