On June 5, 2013, a door opened. We gained our first glimpse of the true scope and magnitude of the United States' surveillance operations and the steps needed to reform them.

The Senate will soon vote on whether or not to walk through that door and pass the USA Freedom Act, a bill that would end one of the worst abuses of the NSA’s surveillance authority. Senator Harry Reid has filed a cloture motion on the bill, which means that, if 60 senators vote to move forward, the bill will hit the senate floor next week. President Obama needs to act now and send a clear, public message to the senate: it must rein in the NSA and pass the USA Freedom Act.

#### Amie Stepanovich ##### About Amie Stepanovich is Senior Policy Counsel at Access. Amie is an expert in domestic surveillance, cybersecurity, and privacy law.

Over the last year we have learned that the U.S. National Security Agency is everywhere—in our phones, our networks, and our hard drives—and when it can’t be somewhere, it has partnered with countries with fewer barriers to collect information about us. As the revelations of the NSA’s behavior has opened this door into their activities, the need for comprehensive surveillance reform can no longer hide in the shadows of government secrecy. __ U.S. intelligence agencies have operated without effective oversight for too long, and the unaccountable, non-transparent, massive surveillance programs can no longer continue unchecked. __

The first program to be fully revealed in the post-Snowden era, and consequently the program first targeted for reform, was what the administration calls the “bulk telephony metadata” program, operated under Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act. Specifically, the program collects all phone call information within its purview, regardless of whether there is any suspicion about the person making the call. The data is then stored in a database where it may be connected to other phone numbers and used to draw an intimate picture of a person’s life. Like all bulk surveillance, this program violates human rights. Untargeted surveillance is inherently disproportionate, unnecessary, and fails to respect due process.

In January 2014, President Obama recognized the need for surveillance reform and publicly promised to reform Section 215, stating:

“Those of us who hold office in America have a responsibility to our Constitution. And while I was confident in the integrity of those who lead our intelligence community, it was clear to me in observing our intelligence operations on a regular basis that changes in our technological capabilities were raising new questions about the privacy safeguards currently in place...[W]e need a new approach. I am therefore ordering a transition that will end the Section 215 bulk metadata program as it currently exists and establish a mechanism that preserves the capabilities we need without the government holding this bulk metadata.”

The result of reform efforts was the USA Freedom Act, which has been specifically designed to honor the President’s commitment. Written in consultation with the administration and other stakeholders, the bill prevents bulk collection under Section 215, limits the amount of incidental collection that may occur, and modestly increases transparency provisions. Congress has modified the bill several times since it was first introduced last October. The current version of the bill waits in the senate after having been re-introduced by Senator Leahy. Access has endorsed the present version along with privacy experts and the intelligence community, and the bill has 18 co-sponsors from both major parties. It remains imperfect. But, as civil society organizations have noted again and again, it’s a good first step.

The USA Freedom Act must be passed now.

It’s been nearly a year and a half since the program was first revealed, and over 10 months since the president’s promise to reform Section 215 and to stop the government’s bulk collection of U.S. phone data. During this time, the Section 215 program has been renewed three separate times, and it is set to be renewed once more in December unless reform passes. The public should not be subject to prolonged untargeted and unwarranted surveillance. We cannot wait any longer for President Obama’s promises of reform to be fulfilled. __If the USA Freedom Act isn’t passed next week, the next Congress could pass a bill with fewer protections and even greater authority for the intelligence agencies—a terrible fate for your privacy. __

The call from the president must be clear and it must be definite and it must happen now: Congress has to act on surveillance reform. Anything less will constitute a broken promise by an administration that was elected on a platform of meaningful change.

The door revealing the NSA’s overreach—and path to rein it in—is open. President Obama and the senate must act.