Ruppersberger proposes replacing NSA bulk data collection with phone company alerts

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/ruppersberger-proposes-replacing-nsa-bulk-data-collection-with-phone-company-alerts/2014/03/12/da8d57d8-a9fb-11e3-9e82-8064fcd31b5b_story.html

Ruppersberger proposes replacing NSA bulk data collection with phone company alerts
By Ellen Nakashima, Updated: Wednesday, March 12, 11:25 AM

The ranking Democratic member of the House Intelligence Committee is proposing an end to bulk collection of citizens’ phone data by the National Security Agency, to be replaced by a system that includes daily continuous alerting by the phone companies of numbers suspected of terrorist activity.

The concept, which Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.) said he is still refining, would require court review of numbers that the phone companies are asked to search against. But it would not call for a requirement that companies hold data longer than they do now.

“We need to end the bulk collection by NSA, but also preserve the important capability that the NSA needs to keep our country safe,” said Ruppersberger, whose district includes the NSA’s Fort Meade headquarters.

President Obama in January called for an end to the NSA’s gathering of Americans’ phone records, a program that has generated much controversy since it was revealed last June through a document leaked to the press by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. But Obama did not specify what should replace it. Instead, he gave the attorney general and director of national intelligence until March 28 to develop options.