Jim Sensenbrenner among those concerned by proposals on the table and says stance to end bulk surveillance is ‘unwavering’

By Spencer Ackerman, theguardian.com, 26 Feb., 2014

Advocates for the curtailment of bulk surveillance are pre-emptively opposing a reform proposal presented to the White House under which responsibility for the National Security Agency’s vast database of US phone records would be handed over to the FBI.

That proposal, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, is one of several options under internal consideration for revamping the NSA’s mass collection of phone data, all of which are fiercely contested for varying reasons by spies, privacy groups, phone companies and legislators.

Privacy advocates took the four ideas that have been presented to the White House as an indication of how strongly the NSA and its allies are fighting to preserve their powers in the wake of whistleblower Edward Snowden’s revelations about surveillance.

Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner, a Wisconsin Republican who authored the USA Freedom Act, a bill to end bulk domestic surveillance, said he was “unwavering” in his stance after hearing of the new options the administration is considering [....]