Bulk collection of telephone metadata is unlawful, according to the US Court of Appeals. This decision paves the way for full legal action to be taken against the US’ National Security Agency.

Judges also spoke into the years-long debate over the controversial Patriot Act, which was set in place after and because of the 9/11 attacks.

The judges’ statement:

“We hold that the text of section 215 cannot bear the weight the government asks us to assign to it, and that it does not authorize the telephone metadata program. Such a monumental shift in our approach to combating terrorism requires a clearer signal from Congress than a recycling of oft‐used language long held in similar contexts to mean something far narrower. We conclude that to allow the government to collect phone records only because they may become relevant to a possible authorized investigation in the future fails even the permissive ‘relevance’ test.

“We agree with appellants that the government’s argument is ‘irreconcilable with the statute’s plain text”.

The White House stressed, according to The Guardian, that it supports an overhaul of the program which was basically whistleblown into popularity by Edward Snowden, however, the way that said provisions and limitations applied on the NSA were not clarified.