(MENAFN- Jordan News Agency) The US House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to end the National Security Agency NSA's dragnet collection of telephone data from millions of Americans.
The 338-88 vote backing the US Freedom Act comes and the measure now heads for a vote in the Senate.
US Freedom Act is seen as a big win for privacy and civil rights advocates. The White House backs the reforms, saying the bill protects privacy while preserving essential national security authorities.
The existence of the controversial NSA program was revealed in 2013 by whistleblower and former security contractor Edward Snowden.
The bill, which focuses on people in the United States and not overseas, would amend controversial sections of the USA Patriot Act, which passed in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks and which expire on June 1.
The reforms would explicitly prohibit the mass collection of telephone metadata - phone numbers, time and duration of calls - by the NSA, as well as electronic data such as emails and web addresses.
The vote came just a week after a US appeals court ruled that the bulk data collection goes far beyond what Congress authorized.
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