NSA will lose access to ‘historical’ phone surveillance data Nov. 29

The U.S. National Security Agency will lose access to the bulk telephone records data it has collected at the end of November, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence announced Monday.

Congress voted in June to rein in the NSAs mass collection of U.S. phone metadata, which includes information such as the timing and location of calls. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court then gave the NSA 180 days to wind the program down.

The Director of National Intelligence had been evaluating whether the NSA should maintain access to the historical data it collected after that 180 days is up. It’s now determined that access to that data will cease on Nov. 29.

After that date, the NSA must receive approval from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, also known as the FISA Court, to request the data from phone companies on a case-by-case basis.

NSA personnel will have continued access to the historical data for an additional three months, “solely for data integrity purposes” to verify records produced under that new, case-by-case system.

The NSA will also need to preserve the metadata until civil lawsuits over the program have been resolved, or until “the relevant courts relieve NSA of such obligations,” the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said Monday.

The metadata “will not be used for any other purpose,” and will be destroyed when the litigation is over, the office said.

Zach Miners covers social networking, search and general technology news for IDG News Service. Follow Zach on Twitter at @zachminers. Zach’s e-mail address is zach_miners@idg.com