US court sanctions NSA phone tapping

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A United States appeals court in Washington ruled in favour of the government in a case challenging the National Security Agency's collection of millions of phone records.
The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia reversed a decision by a lower court that found the programme was likely illegal and sent the matter back to the lower court for reconsideration, reports dpa.
US President Barack Obama signed into law reforms to the programme earlier this year, but legal challenges continue to make their way through the courts because the changes are not due to take effect until November 29.
The court's finding means the NSA can continue to collect the phone records until the changes go into effect.
The reforms - the most far-reaching of US surveillance programmes since fugitive whistleblower Edward Snowden exposed widespread spying on telephone and internet records - curtail some of the powers granted to the NSA in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The legislation still gives the agency the ability to track individuals it identifies as threats.
The court found the plaintiffs had not absolutely shown that their own phone records were likely spied on by the NSA and therefore could not challenge the programme.
Snowden's revelations about the mass collection of telephone and internet records, as well as US spying on key allies, angered privacy and civil liberties advocates and damaged US relations abroad.
Meanwhile, an intelligence court extended the telephone data collection during the transitional period before the reforms take effect, the Justice Department said Friday. The court had previously extended the programme until Friday. The new period will last until the reforms take effect on November 29

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