The USA Freedom Act extends the government’s ability to collect large amounts of data, but with restrictions, and is the first piece of legislation to reform post 9/11 surveillance measures.
The bill, seen as a substitute for the Patriot Act, had been backed by President Barack Obama as a compromise addressing privacy concerns, while preserving a tool to protect the country from terror threats.
It ends a system exposed by former NSA contractor-turned-whistleblower Edward Snowden where the spy agency collected and searched records of phone calls looking for terrorism leads, but was not allowed to listen to their content.
After the Senate voted 67-32 on Tuesday to give final congressional approval to the bill, Obama used his Twitter account, @POTUS, to say he was glad it had passed. “I'll sign it as soon as I get it,” the tweet said.
The NSA will now be forced to request information through a court...