The government announced Monday it will "destroy" the bulk phone data collected by the National Security Agency (NSA), the subject of much criticism over the last several months.
According to a
statement from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the data will be purged "as soon as possible."
"NSA remains under a continuing legal obligation to preserve its bulk 215 telephony metadata collection until civil litigation regarding the program is resolved, or the relevant courts relieve NSA of such obligations," the statement reads. "The telephony metadata preserved solely because of preservation obligations in pending civil litigation will not be used or accessed for any other purpose, and, as soon as possible, NSA will destroy the Section 215 bulk telephony metadata upon expiration of its litigation preservation obligations."
The statement adds that "analytic access" to the data under the program, which was
given much attention after former NSA contractor Edward Snowden leaked its details, will end on Nov. 29 of this year.
"On June 29, 2015, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court approved the Government's application to resume the Section 215 bulk telephony metadata program pursuant to the USA FREEDOM Act's 180-day transition provision," the statement reads.
"As part of our effort to transition to the new authority, we have evaluated whether NSA should maintain access to the historical metadata after the conclusion of that 180-day period.
"NSA has determined that analytic access to that historical metadata collected under Section 215 (any data collected before November 29, 2015) will cease on November 29, 2015. However, solely for data integrity purposes to verify the records produced under the new targeted production authorized by the USA FREEDOM Act, NSA will allow technical personnel to continue to have access to the historical metadata for an additional three months."
A federal court ruling last month allowed the NSA to continue adding to its database of phone data while it is phased out.
"This application presents the question whether the recently-enacted USA Freedom Act, in amending Title V of FISA, ended the bulk collection of telephone metadata. The short answer is yes," federal Judge Michael W. Mosman wrote in his opinion.
"But in doing so, Congress deliberately carved out a 180-day period following the date of enactment in which such collection was specifically authorized."
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