White House to Propose End to Bulk Collection

According to the The New York Times, President Obama plans to propose legislation that would end bulk collection of phone records under Sec. 215 of the Patriot Act, keep the records in the hands of the phone companies, and require intellligence agents to get acccess to such records only through a court order.

Exceprt:

The new surveillance court orders envisioned by the administration would require phone companies to swiftly provide records in a technologically compatible data format, including making available, on a continuing basis, data about any new calls placed or received after the order is received, the officials said.

 They would also allow the government to seek related records for callers up to two calls, or “hops,” removed from the number that has come under suspicion, even if those callers are customers of other companies.