Legislative Background on Domestic Surveillance Reform
Recent Action by Congress on Private Data Collection
On June 2, 2015, President Barack Obama signed into law the USA FREEDOM Act, the first piece of legislation to reform surveillance measures that were enacted in response to the 9/11 terror attacks. The bill’s passage was the culmination of efforts to reform the National Security Agency (NSA) following the leaking of classified agency information in June 2013 by former CIA employee and government contractor Edward Snowden. Although the legislation was approved by solid margins in the House and Senate, it followed weeks of contentious debate and a temporary lapse in counterterrorism provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act, which expired…
