NSA's phone data collection voted by US Senate

London: The United States Senate has voted to curb the government's ability to collect phone data in bulk, a programme that had been in place since the 9/11 terror attacks.

The White House-backed bill, the USA Freedom Act, was passed on a 67 to 32 vote, against the will of the Republicans, who backed the existing surveillance programs. U.S. President Barack Obama signed the bill into a law on Tuesday night, reported the BBC.

The new legislation limits the collection of data by the government, making it more focused. Instead of collecting phone records in bulk, the National Security Agency ( NSA) will now be forced to seek the information, stored on telephone and internet company servers rather than government servers, through a court order.

The USA Freedom Act also stipulates that the request must be specific to an individual entity such as a person, account, or electronic device.

In the wake of the policy change, a six-month transition period will be in place so that storage remains with private companies, rather than on government servers.