Washington – The House Intelligence Committee approved the USA Freedom Act today, which would curtail bulk collection and storage of Americans’ phone metadata by the U.S. government. The bill matches the one the House Judiciary Committee passed yesterday.
The Computer & Communications Industry Association has testified on this issue for years, advocating restraint on bulk data collection of personal data by the U.S. government. The following can be attributed to CCIA President & CEO Ed Black:
“The votes by the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees are important steps towards reining in government surveillance programs that have grown to levels not understood by the American people. The House Intelligence and Judiciary Committees should be commended for moving reform legislation forward. When a government collects and stores such massive amounts of data there is inherently a temptation to stretch existing rules on using the data. There remain numerous areas of law and policy that need further reform and we are still concerned about any directive to have private companies store such data. We will continue to work with policymakers on the details of the bill as it moves forward.”