The US court of appeals has ruled that the NSA's bulk phone data collection wasn't authorized under law. The metadata surveillance program has been scrutinized ever since Edward Snowden made its existence public almost two years ago. But no ruling has deemed it unlawful until now. NSA's program "exceeds the scope of what Congress has authorized," wrote one of the three judges on the panel on the 2nd circuit court of appeals.
The ruling deems the program illegal, but it doesn't put an end to it. The decision comes at a time when the Congress is already debating legislation that would impact NSA's surveillance program. The Freedom of Act legislation being proposed would allow the government to seek information from telecom companies, strictly on an as-and-when-needed basis. And every query would need to be judicially approved. The end of that debate is expected to resolve the issue as it could effectively end NSA's current surveillance tactics.
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Source: National Journal
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