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.
“‘Metadata’ means records about your private activities and associations,” Snowden said on Twitter earlier this month. “It’s an activity dossier. The novelty is in the lack of warrants.”
“Metadata” means records about your private activities and associations. It’s an activity dossier. The novelty is in the lack of warrants.
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) November 2, 2015
The program has never been credited with stopping a terrorist attack, and it has been widely panned by critics who say it is too invasive. Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., the original author of the Patriot Act, said he never intended the program’s creation, referring to it as “a gross invasion of privacy and a violation of Section 215.”
The program’s deep unpopularity has not deterred those who say that bulk collection contributes to strong national security. Pointing to the Nov. 13 terrorist attacks in Paris, several members of the Senate, including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and presidential contender Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., co-authored the “Liberty Through Strength Act” this month, which would have reauthorized the program until at least 2017.
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However, their effort fell on uninterested ears, with even Sensenbrenner slamming the proposal as “fear mongering.”
Yet even as the program reaches its end, the NSA is set to retain several similar surveillance tools. “Information sharing” legislation passed by the Senate in October will free companies from civil liability for sharing customer data with federal agencies. Smaller devices known as cell-site simulators allow the NSA and other law enforcement agencies to conduct similar bulk data collection operations throughout the country. Additionally, the NSA has a request pending before the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to retain its historical metadata until Feb. 29 “for the purpose of verifying that the new targeted production mechanism … is working as intended.”
While the NSA is still going to be engaging in its fair share of surveillance, the end of the Section 215 program represents a hard-fought victory for privacy advocates who have insisted that spy agencies should be required to ask for permission more often.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, sounded a calmer note than some of the skeptics in Congress on Friday.
“With the transition period ending, the intelligence community has fulfilled an important presidential commitment,” Clapper said, “that allows national security professionals to retain the capabilities necessary to continue protecting the country, while strengthening the civil liberties protections that the American people cherish.”
