U.S. House Votes to Limit NSA Spying

The road to NSA reform took another unexpected turn

In a surprise vote late Thursday night, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly sided in favor of an amendment that would stop two key NSA surveillance activities: searching government databases for information on U.S. citizens without a warrant — the so-called "backdoor searches" — and ask hardware and software makers to build backdoors for surveillance purposes.

The amendment was introduced as part of the 2015 Defense Appropriations bill, the annual bill to fund the military, which includes funds for the NSA. Representatives passed it after just 10 minutes of debate, with 293 votes in favor and 123 against Read more...