Federal Court Rules NSA Data Collection Illegal

N.S.A. Phone Data Collection Is Illegal, Appeals Court Rules

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A federal appeals court in New York on Thursday ruled that the once-secret National Security Agency program that is systematically collecting Americans’ phone records in bulk is illegal. The decision comes as a fight in Congress is intensifying over whether to end and replace the program, or to extend it without changes. In a 97-page ruling, a three-judge panel for the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that a provision of the USA Patriot Act known as Section 215 cannot be legitimately interpreted to allow the bulk collection of domestic calling records.

Looks like the whistleblowers were right on this one.

Congress now has to decide whether to sunset the law that the NSA was using to justify the program, renew it as is, or renew it with modifications to allow this data collection, which would then be subject to constitutional challenges.

via International Skeptics Forum http://ift.tt/1GREuzU