Skip to main content

Congress passes amendment to defund NSA ‘backdoor’ surveillance

In a rare show of bipartisan cooperation, the House of Representatives voted for an amendment that seeks to cut funding for part of the National Security Agency’s surveillance program, particularly the use of “backdoors” that allow spy agencies to monitor private data and communications. The amendment, which was inserted into a defense appropriations bill, was passed with overwhelming support with a vote of 293-123. In its current form, the amendment may mean the end of the NSA’s warrantless spying on people’s Internet activity, which includes emails and search logs. Currently, data like emails (as long as it is older than 180 days) and mobile phone locations can be monitored without warrants.

“None of the funds made available by this Act may be used by the National Security Agency or the Central Intelligence Agency to mandate or request that a person … alter its product or service to permit the electronic surveillance … of any user of said product or service for said agencies,” the amendment read.

Recommended Videos

“There’s no question Americans have become increasingly alarmed with the breadth of unwarranted government surveillance programs used to store and search their private data,” said Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wi), Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Ca), and Thomas Massie (R-Ky), the amendment’s sponsors, said in a press release. “This amendment will reinstate an important provision that was stripped from the original USA Freedom Act to further protect the constitutional rights of American citizens. Congress has an ongoing obligation to conduct oversight of the intelligence community and its surveillance authorities.”

The amendment has received backing from privacy advocates, who are calling it the “first step in reining in the NSA.”

“The House voted overwhelmingly to cut funding for two of the NSA’s invasive surveillance practices: the warrantless searching of Americans’ international communications, and the practice of requiring companies to install vulnerabilities in communications products or service. We applaud the House for taking this important first step, and we look forward to other elected officials standing for our right to privacy.,” Mark Rufold, a staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said in a press release.

The passage of the amendment softens the blow of a previous legislative defeat for privacy advocates. Last month, the USA Freedom Act was passed by Congress with a vote of 303-121. Critics say that the bill was gutted to the point that it actually expanded the data pool from which the NSA can collect data.

Christian Brazil Bautista
Christian Brazil Bautista is an experienced journalist who has been writing about technology and music for the past decade…
The Galaxy S25 Edge ushers in the era of the thin flagship phone
The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge on a display rack.

The era of the thin flagship smartphone has arrived with the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge, a highly anticipated device teased earlier in the year with the rest of the Galaxy S25 range. Does it live up to expectations? We’ve held it already and were very impressed, but if you want all the spec details before diving into that, we’ve got everything you need to know here. 

The Galaxy S25 Edge is just 5.8mm thick and 163 grams, and therefore very different to the 7.3mm thick and 190 grams of the Galaxy S25 Plus, the model it’s otherwise closely related to, specs-wise. It shares the same 6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED screen with a 1-120Hz refresh rate and a peak brightness of 2,600 nits, but in a lighter, less fatiguing to hold package. 

Read more
Miss the Galaxy S25 Edge unveil? Watch the full reveal here
Samsung's new S25 Edge.

Samsung has finally unveiled its thinnest-ever Galaxy S series smartphone, the Galaxy S25 Edge. The Korean tech giant introduced the new handset via an online video presentation that started at 8 p.m. ET on Monday, May 12.

If you missed the 14-minute presentation, you can watch it via the video player embedded at the top of this page. 

Read more
Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge vs. Google Pixel 9 Pro XL: Slim or XL?
The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge on a display rack.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge is the first new Edge-branded Samsung phone since the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, and Samsung hasn't brought that premium branding back lightly. The S25 Edge is one of the slimmest big phones we'ver ever seen, with an S25 Plus-rivaling 6.7-inch display, but a thickness of just 5.9mm — a whole 2mm slimmer than most other flagships. And that slimline approach doesn't mean Samsung has sacrificed power, as the S25 Edge also comes with a top-tier Snapdragon processor, 200-megapixel camera, and a stunning design.

But can a phone this slim really compete? Chief amongst concerns for this new phone is its battery capacity. Can a slim phone really have the lifespan to match other large flagship phones in its price bracket? We've compared it to the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL, one of the most powerful and large phones that's capable of going toe-to-toe with Samsung's latest. Which one came out on top? You'll have to read on to find out.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge vs. Google Pixel 9 Pro XL: specs

Read more