US Spy Agency Stops Data Collection Saturday At Midnight

The U.S. National Security Agency will stop its mass collection of phone data nearly every American Saturday at midnight, under USA Freedom Act enacted late May to ban collection of information.



The Freedom Act signed into law by President Barack Obama on June 2 required the NSA to end its data collection program by Nov. 29. 



The Freedom Act was restored in modified form of several provisions of the Patriot Act, which was signed into law by President George W. Bush in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. The Patriot Act expired on May 31.



Technically, the metadata provision of the Patriot Act, known as Section 215, and two lesser-known powers - a thus far unused "lone wolf" tool that allows law enforcement to gather intelligence on terror suspects not formally associated with organizations, and a roving wiretapping tool that allows for surveillance on all communications devices used by a terror suspect, expired.



Rather than have the government collect and keep the records, under the Freedom Act, phone companies will now be expected to provide them to government agencies after reception of an intelligence court's order based on a "specific selection term".  



Under the Freedom Act, the government must report annually to Congress and the public, among other items, the total number of orders issued under the new authority and the number of targets.



The existence of the NSA program was revealed by former contractor Edward Snowden in 2013, prompting calls for reform. 



Reformation of the George W. Bush-era Patriot Act's controversial phone metadata collection program was hotly debated at the U.S. Congress in May.



The House passed the Freedom Act in a landslide 303-121vote on May 31 and the Senate passed it 67-32 on June 1. - Washington DC