Obama Administration Plans to End Bulk Surveillance of Phone Calls

President Barack Obama plans to get the National Security Agency out of the business of collecting phone call records in bulk, The New York Times' Charlie Savage reports: "Under the proposal, they said, the N.S.A. would end its systematic collection of data about Americans’ calling habits. The bulk records would stay in the hands of phone companies, which would not be required to retain the data for any longer than they normally would. And the N.S.A. could obtain specific records only with permission from a judge, using a new kind of court order." A House Intelligence Committee would allow the NSA to issue subpoenas for specific phone records without judicial approval, The Times also reports.