ABFFE Urges End to Bulk Collection of Personal Data

The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE), which has praised recent moves by Congress and the Obama administration to end the bulk collection of information about telephone calls made by Americans, has renewed its calls for the adoption of reforms that would limit the National Security Agency (NSA) and other intelligence agencies to searching only the records, including bookstore and library records, that pertain to people who are suspected of planning or committing illegal acts.

“The end of bulk collection of telephone records will set an important precedent that should be applied to all personal information,” said ABFFE President Chris Finan.

The Obama administration is reportedly preparing legislation that would end the NSA’s massive collection of telephone records and would require the agency to seek a court order to obtain specific records from telephone companies. Media coverage based on materials released by former NSA contractor Edward J. Snowden has detailed the NSA’s comprehensive collection of the telephone records of all Americans.

On Wednesday, ABFFE joined more than 30 civil liberties and privacy groups to send a letter urging Congress and the president to apply the same standard in the new legislation to other types of personal data that are collected by the government. Under Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act, the government can request any records that are merely “relevant” to a terrorism or foreign intelligence investigation. The civil liberties and privacy groups groups are urging Congress to pass the USA Freedom Act, which was introduced in October, to limit searches to the records of suspected terrorists and spies, and people who may be known to them.