Emil Guillermo: NSA/Patriot Act phone data collection declared illegal. But real battle ahead in Congress by June deadline. Some want it ended. GOP wants it continued. Do we really want to opt-out of democracy?

Remember how a federal judge ruled in 2013 that the NSA collecting  all your phone data was legal?

Today a federal appellate court ruled that the NSA data collection activity was  ILLEGAL.

But it didn’t rule on the second part of the ACLU’s suit…on whether the NSA’s data collection was unconstitutional.

More fights ahead.

Especially with the June deadline looming to end or extend the data collection provision in the Patriot Act.

The Senate likes the data collection and has already defeated a bill to end it last November.

The House has a bill ready to kill the data collection, but Senate Republicans are trying to kill the bill.

Maybe we can just have the government spy on Republicans who wish to opt-out on certain democratic  freedoms.

But that’s where we are. The court’s ruling today really leaves it up to Congress to decide if bulk collection of phone data is enough to compromise your freedom in the national interest.

See New York Times Report here.

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