Judge blocks NSA's destruction of old telecommunications records

SAN FRANCISCO, March 11 (UPI) -- A federal judge in San Francisco halted the National Security Agency from destroying telecommunications records in case they're needed in pending lawsuits.

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White, overseeing a lawsuit against the agency alleging invasion of privacy, issued a nationwide block Monday on the destruction of millions of telecommunications records collected more than five years ago until March 19, when a hearing is scheduled on the matter, ZDNet reported Tuesday.

Privacy advocates, religious groups, gun organizations and civil rights groups are all plaintiffs in the suit.

NSA was prepared to destroy all records more than five years old Tuesday, but in his ruling, White said, "The court would be unable to afford effective relief once the records are destroyed," especially since it hasn't ruled on the legality of the NSA's intelligence gathering.

The NSA wanted to preserve the records for intelligence purposes and for pending civil lawsuits, but the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court overruled the agency and ordered the records destroyed, ZDNet said.

The NSA has been embroiled in criticism and accusations of privacy violations since documents explaining its data collection programs were leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, who was granted temporary asylum by Russia last year after he was charged in the United States with espionage.