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USA Freedom Act to reform government surveillance powers

After a lapse in US surveillance powers on Monday 1 June, US congress have passed the USA Freedom Act, reinstating surveillance powers for US intelligence agencies, but with reforms limiting the government’s bulk collection of data.

The USA Freedom Act will replace the USA Patriot Act, a national security policy that was put in place following the events of 11 September, 2001, and is the first major overhaul of government surveillance policy since the widespread collection of data was exposed by whistleblower Edward Snowden in 2013.

The bill passed on a 67-32 vote, and will bring an end to the bulk collection of American’s phone records. Now records must be held by telecommunications companies, not on government servers, and can only be released with a court order for specific information. There will be a six month transition period where data storage will be moved from government servers to those of private companies.

Some key parts of the USA Patriot Act have been retained in the new bill, including the monitoring of ‘lone wolf’ suspects not linked to known terror groups and the ability to monitor travel and business records of individuals.

The passing of the bill comes after the USA Patriot Act expired at 12:01 on 1 June, when senate failed to reach a majority vote on an extension, effectively stopping all government surveillance powers.

Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul vocally condemned the bulk collection of data and threw up procedural road blocks to prevent an extension of the USA Patriot Act before it expired on 1 June. He said: ”We are not collecting the information of spies. We are not collecting the information of terrorists. We are collecting all American citizens' records all of the time… This is what we fought the revolution over.”

Republican Senate Leader Mitch Connell, who has backed Paul’s presidential campaign, led the opposition to the Freedom Act, wanting to extend the USA Patriot Act and not place any restrictions on US surveillance powers. Speaking on the floor of the Senate, McDonnell said the USA Freedom Act will compromise American security “by taking one more tool from our war fighters… at exactly the wrong time.”

President Obama signed the bill into law shortly after the majority vote on Tuesday 2 June. In statement he said he was “gratified that Congress has finally moved forward with this sensible reform legislation’, but also denounced the “needless delay and inexcusable lapse in important national security authorities” that preceded it.

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