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US Court Ruling Signals Shift From NSA ‘Emergency’ Mentality - Rights Group

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The US court decision ordering the National Security Agency (NSA) to shut down its mass surveillance program marks a shift away from the crisis mindset that has gripped the country since September 11, 2001, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Staff Attorney Alex Abdo told Sputnik.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — On Monday, US District Court Judge Richard Leon demanded that the US government partially suspend the NSA’s bulk collection of phone data, arguing that the program is illegal.

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"The [Leon] ruling is also the latest judicial step in a slow shift away from the emergency mentality that has come to define our country’s post-September 11 period," Abdo said on Tuesday.

The practical consequences of the decision are hard to predict given the US government intends to end the bulk collection of American’s phone records by the end of November, Abdo noted.

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The ruling, the civil rights attorney argued, is yet another blow to the US government’s impoverished view of privacy in the digital age.

"It recognizes that antiquated court cases about privacy from the pre-digital age were never intended to permit the government to engage in dragnet surveillance," Abdo claimed.

The ACLU hopes Judge Leon’s latest ruling symbolizes a broader willingness to scrutinize US executive policy that has been shrouded in secrecy for years, he added.

The NSA collects information about phone calls, including the time, duration and number called, in order to identify terrorists and prevent attacks. The agency's program is expected to change significantly on November 29 and the decision of the court is expected to have a limited effect.

In 2013, former NSA contractor Edward Snowden leaked some 1.7 million classified US government documents, detailing widespread and illegal mass electronic surveillance programs conducted by NSA and other intelligence agencies.

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