NSA to Purge Mass-Surveillance Phone Records Database ⇥ nationaljournal.com

Dustin Volz, National Journal:

The National Security Agency will purge all phone data collected during the operation of its expiring bulk surveillance program by the start of next year pending ongoing litigation, the government announced Monday.

“As soon as possible, NSA will destroy the Section 215 bulk telephony metadata upon expiration of its litigation preservation obligations,” the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, referring to a provision of the Patriot Act, said in a statement. “Analytic access” to those records, which go back five years, will end Nov. 29, and they will be destroyed three months later.

Slow progress is progress nevertheless. No word on when they’re stopping their far more invasive mass collection of internet traffic.