President Barack Obama met yesterday with senior lawmakers to discuss ending the National Security Agency's surveillance of Americans' telephone records.
The meeting followed a report by an outside group that found the program “not essential” to preventing terrorist attacks. Instead of the NSA holding onto the collected data, the group suggested phone companies or private third parties store it, according to the Washington Post.
Obama plans to address the topic in a speech next Friday, during which he will outline reforms to U.S. surveillance practices.
After Edward Snowden leaked the program's details in June, courts examined its legality. Judges in both Washington D.C. and New York found the program unlawful in separate rulings, whereas last week, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court declared the program lawful and renewed it for another 90 days.
