Dem senators ask NSA for public update on mass phone data collection program

A group of six Democratic senators on the Senate Intelligence Committee is asking the National Security Agency (NSA) to release a public update on its mass phone data collection program, following reports indicating the spy agency has shut it down. 

“We write to urge that you provide a public description, consistent with protection of sources and methods, of the current status of the call detail record (CDR) program,” the senators wrote in a letter to Paul Nakasone, head of the NSA.

The group of senators includes the Intelligence Committee’s vice chairman, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), a privacy hawk, and 2020 contenders Sens. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), among others.

The Wall Street Journal last month reported that the NSA was recommending the White House officially end the agency’s mass collection of U.S. phone data.{mosads}

Sources told the Journal that the NSA has concluded that the program, which gathered metadata on domestic text messages and phone calls, was too burdensome to maintain. 

“Since then, there have been no public updates from NSA,” the senators wrote. “A public status report will resolve the current confusion, demonstrate the NSA’s commitment to transparency, and inform Congress’s deliberations about the possible reauthorization of the program later this year.” 

The NSA in an email to The Hill confirmed it had received the letter.

“NSA has received the letter, is in the process of reviewing it and will respond accordingly,” an agency spokesperson said.

The White House will ultimately decide whether to push for legislation to renew the program’s legal authority. 

Senators appear to be split on the issue, with Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, signaling that he wants to renew the program’s authority, while Warner has expressed skepticism. 

Privacy hawks in Congress and civil liberties advocates had been gearing up for a battle on Capitol Hill over the reauthorization of the program, but reports have for months indicated that the NSA is shuttering the program amid technical difficulties. 

The call records program was first revealed by whistleblower Edward Snowden six years ago. Following Snowden’s disclosures, Congress passed the USA Freedom Act in 2015, which created a pared-down version of the phone surveillance program. 

Experts have said the restrictions placed on the program in that act might have rendered it inoperable. 

–This report was updated on May 8 at 1:12 p.m.