The U.S. Senate passed a government surveillance reform bill Tuesday that will limit the National Security Agency’s dragnet phone surveillance program first illuminated by Edward Snowden.
“This is the most important surveillance reform bill since 1978, and its passage is an indication that Americans are no longer willing to give the intelligence agencies a blank check,” Jameel Jaffer, American Civil Liberties Union deputy legal director said in a news release.
“Still, no one should mistake this bill for comprehensive reform…The passage of this bill is an indication that comprehensive reform is possible, but it is not comprehensive reform in itself.”
The Senate’s 67–32 vote to passed the USA Freedom Act without changes that previously sailed through the House of Representatives comes two days after the some controversial sections of the Patriot Act expired, forcing the NSA to begin shutting down its telephony metadata program.
The bill, which now awaits the president’s signature, will end the NSA’s current phone records collection program where telecommunications companies deliver bulk packets of data to the agency. Instead, those companies such as Verizon and AT&T;, which keep call data for billing purposes, will continue to hold onto the information and respond to Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)-approved requests.
The Senate refused all of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) proposed after a showdown Sunday prevented attempts to reauthorize the program.
USA Freedom has been regarded as the ultimate compromise, earning bipartisan endorsements from civil liberties advocates and the White House. Privacy groups, that would ideally want legislation that allows for only targeted surveillance when needed, have been vocal about the USA Freedom bill’s shortcomings.
Bulk collection as it’s known will end under USA Freedom, eliminating mass data collection that could be nationwide, statewide, ZIP codes-based. It will also offer more transparency to the secret proceedings of the FISA court by appointing a civilian advocate who speaks for the public’s civil liberties interest.
“For the first time since 9/11, Congress has placed significant limits on the government’s ability to spy on Americans,” Elizabeth Goitein, co-director for the Brennan Center for Justice said in a news release. “These reforms are important first steps, but that does not mean Congress can wash its hands of these issues and move on.”
Surveillance concerns linger as USA Freedom only addresses Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which governs the phone data program, but not Executive Order 12333, Sections 701 and 702 of the Patriot Act, which give the government broad surveillance powers including access to internet data through tech companies such as Facebook and Google.