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SECTION 215 REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS

Recommendation 1: End the NSA’s Bulk Telephone Records Program

Status:

Implemented (USA FREEDOM Act)

Text of the Board’s Recommendation:

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The government should end its Section 215 bulk telephone records program.
Explanation for the Recommendation:

The Board concluded that the Section 215 bulk telephone records program lacks a viable
legal foundation under Section 215, implicates constitutional concerns under the First and
Fourth Amendments, raises serious threats to privacy and civil liberties as a policy matter,
and has shown only limited value. As a result, the Board recommended that the
government end the program. Without the current Section 215 program, the government
would still be able to seek telephone calling records directly from communications
providers through other existing legal authorities.

Discussion of Status:

The USA FREEDOM Act, enacted on June 2, 2015, ended the bulk telephone records
program, along the lines of the Board’s recommendation. The Act established a new system
under Section 215 for government access to call detail records in terrorism investigations.
To obtain call detail records under the new system, the government must identify a
“specific selection term” that is reasonably suspected of being associated with terrorism,
and it can obtain only records of calls up to two “hops” from that number, with FISC
approval. The NSA began operation of the new system on November 30, 2015.

Recommendation 2: Immediately Add Additional Privacy Safeguards to

the Bulk Telephone Records Program

Status:

Implemented in part; Superseded by USA FREEDOM Act
Text of the Board’s Recommendation:

The government should immediately implement additional privacy safeguards in operating
the Section 215 bulk collection program.

1 Board Members Rachel Brand and Elisebeth Collins did not join this recommendation.

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