Senate passes bill to privatize surveillance: Telcos to act as arm of law enforcement and collect, store data for US govt

Senate passes bill to privatize surveillance: Telcos to act as arm of law enforcement and collect, store data for US govt [I can't help but think that this has been the goal all along. Nearly all of the previous privacy abuses will continue, but the costs will skyrocket so telco corpora-terrorists can make a killing on the spying. --LRP] Congress approves bill to resume, overhaul NSA surveillance after lapse --After six months of continued spying, NSA will leave records with phone companies | 02 June 2015 | The Senate gave final approval Tuesday to legislation that would restart -- but also overhaul -- controversial government surveillance programs that went dark over the weekend after lawmakers missed a key deadline. In a 67-32 vote, the chamber approved the so-called USA Freedom Act. The legislation, which already won approval in the House, now goes to President Obama's desk. The vote comes after key surveillance programs -- most notably, the National Security Agency's bulk collection of Americans' phone records -- were suspended Sunday after Congress missed the deadline for reauthorization.