National Security Agency's bulk phone metadata collection program to sunset on June 1

The deadline for the extension was Friday, but on Saturday an administration official confirmed to The Guardian that no application was filed. Barring dramatic intervention, the NSA's authorization for bulk collection should expire on June 1 at 5 p.m. Eastern time.

On Saturday morning, a bill called the USA Freedom Act suffered a procedural defeat in the Senate, despite having bipartisan support. Had it passed it would have banned the NSA's bulk metadata collection program, but simultaneously renewed another Patriot Act measure allowing the Federal Bureau of Investigation to access business records, plus large swaths of communications metadata.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has been leading a campaign to keep all of the domestic surveillance powers in the Patriot Act intact, and is hoping to win a temporary extension once the Senate reconvenes on May 31 after the Memorial Day holiday. The House of Representatives isn't due to return until June 1 however, and predominantly favored the Freedom Act.

On May 7 federal appeals court ruled that the NSA's bulk collection program was illegal, which may explain the Obama administration's decision. The situation leaves McConnell and his supporters with an uphill battle.

Attention to the dangers of Section 215 was first drawn in June 2013 by Edward Snowden, an NSA contractor who leaked numerous documents to the Guardian. Documents from his stockpile still continue to emerge, and have shown for example that the NSA has obtained data from major technology companies such as Apple, AT&T, Google, Verizon, and Microsoft, with or without their willing participation.

Earlier this month a secret summit was held in Oxfordshire, England with current and former intelligence officials from around the world joined by executives from Apple, Google, and Vodafone. At issue was the impact of maintaining data privacy on protecting the state.