NSA’s mass collection of phone metadata to end

The National Security Agency on Sunday will end its mass collection of data about Americans’ phone calls, 14 years after the counterterrorism program began in secret under the authority of President George W. Bush.

The halt was ordered by Congress, which in June passed the USA Freedom Act to ban the controversial collection of information known as metadata. That data includes the dates and durations of phone calls and logs of call times, but not content.

Under the new law, the NSA must obtain a court order to serve on the phone companies for every phone number or account it wants information on.

President Obama in January 2014 called on Congress to come up with a way to end the bulk collection of phone metadata, saying that although he had seen no evidence of abuse by the NSA, the program lessened trust in the government.

The government had kept the program mostly secret for years. But in the summer of 2013 it was forced to acknowledge it following the leak of a court order by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden showing that the agency was gathering from a Verizon phone company “all call detail records” of its customers on a daily basis.

The revelation touched off a contentious two-year debate about the proper scope of government surveillance.

Although the phone metadata program had been placed under court supervision in 2006, that action, too, was secret. The public — and many lawmakers, apparently — did not know the vast scope of the collection or the legal authority it was based on.

Following the leak, the government revealed it had interpreted Section 215 of the Patriot Act in a way that allowed such bulk collection. The reasoning essentially held that all records were needed in the event that one day some of them might prove useful in foiling a terrorist plot.

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

The NSA has requested access to historical phone metadata until Feb. 29, limited to technical personnel and only for the purpose of verifying that the new system is working as intended, according to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court is considering the request.

Separately, the ODNI said, the NSA remains under a legal obligation to preserve the phone metadata it has collected until civil litigation regarding the program is resolved, or the relevant courts relieve the NSA of such obligations. The NSA and the Justice Department have declined to state whether that means they will preserve all the records or just those that are relevant to the litigation.

The phone records preserved solely for legal obligations will not be used or accessed for any other purpose, officials said, and the NSA will destroy them as soon as possible after the legal obligations end, the ODNI said.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

The rezoned property, seen here from the Hillside Vista luxury development, is surrounded on two sides by modern neighborhoods Monday, March 25, 2024, in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Despite petition, Lake Stevens OKs rezone for new 96-home development

The change faced resistance from some residents, who worried about the effects of more density in the neighborhood.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

T.J. Peters testifies during the murder trial of Alan Dean at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Bothell cold case trial now in jury’s hands

In court this week, the ex-boyfriend of Melissa Lee denied any role in her death. The defendant, Alan Dean, didn’t testify.

A speed camera facing west along 220th Street Southwest on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Washington law will allow traffic cams on more city, county roads

The move, led by a Snohomish County Democrat, comes as roadway deaths in the state have hit historic highs.

Mrs. Hildenbrand runs through a spelling exercise with her first grade class on the classroom’s Boxlight interactive display board funded by a pervious tech levy on Tuesday, March 19, 2024 in Marysville, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lakewood School District’s new levy pitch: This time, it won’t raise taxes

After two levies failed, the district went back to the drawing board, with one levy that would increase taxes and another that would not.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.