The US House of Representatives voted Wednesday to end the NSA's dragnet collection of telephone data from millions of Americans, a controversial program revealed in 2013 by former security contractor Edward Snowden.

The USA Freedom Act, which passed 338-88 with broad bipartisan support, is seen as a big win for privacy and civil rights advocates who see bulk data collection and storage as unconstitutional government overreach. President Barack Obama backs the reforms, which the White House says protect privacy while preserving essential national security authorities.