Tech firms and privacy groups press for curbs on NSA surveillance powers

The nations top technology firms and a coalition of privacy groups are urging Congress to place curbs on government surveillance in the face of a fast-approaching deadline for legislative action.

A set of key Patriot Act surveillance authorities expire June 1, but the effective date is May 21 the last day before Congress breaks for a Memorial Day recess.

In a letter to be sent Wednesday to the Obama administration and senior lawmakers, the coalition vowed to oppose any legislation that, among other things, does not ban the bulk collection of Americans phone records and other data.

The status quo is untenable and ... it is urgent that Congress move forward with reform, said the letter, whose signatories include the Reform Government Surveillance industry coalition. Members of the group include Apple, Google, Microsoft, Twitter and Facebook.

We know that there are some in Congress who think that they can get away with reauthorizing the expiring provisions of the Patriot Act without any reforms at all, said Kevin Bankston, policy director of New America Foundations Open Technology Institute, a privacy group that organized the effort. This letter draws a line in the sand that makes clear that the privacy community and the Internet industry do not intend to let that happen without a fight.

At issue is the bulk collection of Americans data by intelligence agencies such as the National Security Agency. The NSAs daily gathering of millions of records logging phone call times, lengths and other metadata stirred controversy when it was revealed in June 2013 by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

The records are placed in a database that can, with a judges permission, be searched for links to foreign terrorists.They do not include the content of conversations.

That program, placed under federal surveillance court oversight in 2006, was authorized by the court in secret under Section 215 of the Patriot Act one of the expiring provisions.

The public outcry that ensued after the program was disclosed forced President Obama in January 2014 to call for an end to the NSAs storage of the data. He also appealed to Congress to find a way to preserve the agencys access to the data for counterterrorism information.

But in recent months, the political opposition to limiting surveillance has gained strength in part because of growing concerns over the threat of terrorism. Those concerns were exacerbated by the rise of the Islamic State and the attacks that left 17 people dead in and around Paris in January.

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Tech firms and privacy groups press for curbs on NSA surveillance powers