The U.S. Senate voted to pass what’s being called the “Freedom Act”. The bill replaces the Patriot Act. It allows the government to continue to collect data but requires the NSA to first get a court order. South Dakota U.S. Senator John Thune says he voted against the Freedom Act. Thune says the new bill makes it harder for the United States to monitor threats.
“The provisions in the patriot act have been very effective in preventing terrorist attacks and there wasn’t any document example, any documented case of abuse, any privacy breach in all the time that that program had been in existence,” Thune says.
The Freedom Act was signed into a law by President Obama. It remains in effect until December, 2015.