A law that authorizes the National Security Agency to collect bulk phone-call data in the U.S. is set to expire June 1, Reuters reported Monday.Mark Hosenball writes Ned Price, a National Security Council spokesperson, told Reuters the Obama administration vowed not to continue the agency’s telephony metadata surveillance program once the authorization expires.
NSA’s phone-data collection activity was one of the many government surveillance efforts leaked by former agency contractor Edward Snowden in 2013.
Some members of Congress think the practice violates U.S. citizens’ personal freedom while other lawmakers see it as a critical intelligence tool in counterterrorism, according to the report.
According to Hosenball, some legal professionals believe the White House is capable of persuading the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to authorize metadata collection if Congress decides not to extend the law.
