Obama backs new surveillance legislation, but tech companies reject

A tech industry group that has Facebook and Google as participants has rejected the latest draft of a U.S. legislation that aims to put curbs on surveillance by the National Security Agency.

The administration of U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday said it supported swift passage of the USA Freedom Act by the U.S. House of Representatives, and urged the Senate to follow suit.

“Overall, the bill’s significant reforms would provide the public greater confidence in our programs and the checks and balances in the system,” the White House said in a statement. But the tech companies, which also include Yahoo, AOL, Apple, Microsoft, Twitter and LinkedIn, have said in a statement that the latest draft opens up an “unacceptable loophole that could enable the bulk collection of Internet users’ data.”