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Obama Announces End of NSA Telephone Record Collection Program

In a widely anticipated speech (video) on reform of the NSA, President Obama announced he would end the NSA telephone record collection program, first requiring a court order for all queries and then ending the NSA massive record request prior to the next renewal. EPIC, legal scholars, the President’s Review Group, and sponsors of the USA FREEDOM Act, including Senator Patrick Leahy and Senator Ron Wyden had urged the President to take this step. The President also said that the Administration would move to implement “a majority of the recommendations” made by the Review Group. The President announced several other reform measures, including a public advocate for the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, new privacy rights for non-US citizens, more transparency for data collection, a narrowed focus on foreign data collection, greater oversight of signals intelligence, a new Privacy Coordinator at the White House, and a new panel to look closely at privacy and “Big Data.” Still, the President may not have gone far enough to address the scope of NSA programs, the privacy rights of those outside the US, and the need to ensure stronger technical safeguards for Internet stability and reliability. The President also did not indicate whether the U.S. would move to ratify the Council of Europe Privacy Convention or seek legislation to enact the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights. For more information, see White House Fact Sheet

January 18, 2014| Share: