In the United States, Senate lawmakers are set to vote today on whether to advance a measure to rein in the National Security Agency’s dragnet surveillance programs. The USA FREEDOM Act, sponsored by Vermont Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy, would curb the bulk collection of telephone records by requiring the NSA to make specific requests to phone companies for a user’s data, rather than vacuuming up all records in a given area. It would also create a panel to advocate for privacy rights before the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. Major tech companies including Facebook, Google and Twitter have backed the bill, saying it would let them provide more transparency about government demands for user data. Privacy groups have also backed the bill, despite seeing it as a compromise that could still leave room for abuses.