Some NSA surveillance powers set to expire

Some NSA surveillance powers set to expire

The Guardian:

Sweeping US surveillance powers, enjoyed by the National Security Agency since the aftermath of the 2001 terrorist attacks, shut down at midnight on Monday after a dramatic Senate showdown that saw even the NSA’s biggest supporters concede that substantial reforms were now inevitable.

NSA reform advances as Senate moves to vote on USA Freedom Act – as it happened Almost two years after the whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed to the Guardian that the Patriot Act was secretly being used to justify the collection of phone records from millions of Americans, critics of bulk surveillance went further than expected and forced the end of a range of other legal authorities covered by the Bush-era Patriot Act as well.