NSA Will Delete Bulk Telephony Metadata Collected Under Section 215 Program
The “NSA will destroy the Section 215 bulk telephony metadata upon expiration of its litigation preservation obligations,” the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in a statement Monday. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court approved the NSA’s ability to…
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resume the Section 215 bulk telephony metadata program so the government could transition the program to the telephone companies as directed by USA Freedom, it said. “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,” the statement said. The NSA will cease collecting bulk telephony metadata on Nov. 29, it said. Technical personnel will be allowed to continue to access historical metadata for an additional three months to verify the records produced under the “new targeted production,” it said. The NSA also will have a legal obligation to preserve metadata until civil litigation on the program is resolved or relevant courts “relieve NSA of such obligations,” it said. The data preserved solely because of preservation obligations “will not be used or accessed for any other purpose,” and will be destroyed as soon as possible, it said.