House Votes to End NSA Phone Snooping

The House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday that would end the National Security Agency's collection of Americans' phone records.

The bill, called the USA Freedom Act, would reorganize the most controversial program exposed by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

While the measure would stop the agency from collecting the phone records of Americans, it would still order the phone companies to keep that information for 18 months so the NSA can search it for terrorist threats.

President Barack Obama supports the measure.

"The bill's significant reforms would provide the public greater confidence in our programs and the checks and balances in the system," the White House said in a statement.

But opponents say the bill does not actually end the bulk collection of Americans' private information.
 
"This legislation was designed to prohibit bulk collection, but has been made so weak that it fails to adequately protect against mass, untargeted collection of Americans' private information," Nuala O'Connor, president and CEO of the Center for Democracy and Technology, said in a statement.