This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-25439544

The article has changed 9 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 2 Version 3
NSA: White House task force 'recommends surveillance curbs' NSA: White House task force recommends surveillance curbs
(about 1 hour later)
The US National Security Agency should no longer keep its vast database of phone records, a White House-ordered review reportedly recommends. The US National Security Agency should not retain its vast database of phone records, a review convened by President Barack Obama has recommended.
Phone companies or a third party should hold the data instead of America's electronic surveillance agency, says the panel according to US media. Phone companies or a third party should hold the data instead of America's electronic surveillance agency, the five-person panel said.
The US has faced criticism since the snooping programme was leaked in June by ex-NSA contractor Edward Snowden. Details of the snooping programme were leaked by ex-NSA contractor Edward Snowden, now a fugitive in Russia.
The task force report is being released by the White House on Wednesday. The review comes after a federal judge found the programme unconstitutional.
President Barack Obama met the five-member Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technology earlier in the day. President Barack Obama met the five-member Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technology earlier on Wednesday.
The White House has said the outside panel's report includes 46 recommendations about the US surveillance network. The outside panel's report includes 46 recommendations about the US surveillance network.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said the review, which was originally to be published in January, is being released now because of "inaccurate" media reports about its contents. White House spokesman Jay Carney said the review, which was originally to be published in January, was being released now because of "inaccurate" media reports about its contents.
According to the Washington Post, the report's recommendations include banning the intelligence agency from asking firms to build backdoor access to users' private communications and barring the US government from undermining encryption standards. In a statement, the White House said Mr Obama had discussed the thinking beyond the recommendations with the panel and "noted that the group's report represented a consensus view, particularly significant given the broad scope of the members' expertise in counterterrorism, intelligence, oversight, privacy and civil liberties".
It is unclear how many of these suggestions, which intelligence officials are likely to oppose vigorously, will be accepted by the Obama administration. Mr Obama told the group that "the United States use its intelligence collection capabilities in a way that optimally protects our national security while supporting our foreign policy, respecting privacy and civil liberties, maintaining the public trust, and reducing the risk of unauthorized disclosure".
On Monday, a federal court in Washington DC found the NSA's mass collection of Americans' phone call information was probably unconstitutional, in a case expected to reach the US Supreme Court. The five-person panel was comprised of Richard Clarke, a former White House counter-terrorism advisor; Michael Morell, the former deputy director of the CIA; University of Chicago law professor Geoffrey Stone; former White House technical adviser Cass Sunstein; and Peter Swire, an expert in privacy law.
It is unclear how many of the panel's suggestions, which intelligence officials are likely to oppose vigorously, will be accepted by the Obama administration.
On Monday, a federal court in Washington DC found the NSA's mass collection of Americans' phone call information was unconstitutional, in a case expected to reach the US Supreme Court.
Judge Richard Leon called the surveillance programme "indiscriminate" and an "almost Orwellian technology that enables the government to store and analyze the phone metadata of every telephone user in the United States".Judge Richard Leon called the surveillance programme "indiscriminate" and an "almost Orwellian technology that enables the government to store and analyze the phone metadata of every telephone user in the United States".
And on Tuesday, executives from several large US tech firms met Mr Obama at the White House, reportedly pressing the US president to curb the electronic surveillance programmes.And on Tuesday, executives from several large US tech firms met Mr Obama at the White House, reportedly pressing the US president to curb the electronic surveillance programmes.
They demanded more transparency about the programmes, and told the president the programmes were hurting their reputations and the broader US economy by discouraging foreign companies from investing in US technology.They demanded more transparency about the programmes, and told the president the programmes were hurting their reputations and the broader US economy by discouraging foreign companies from investing in US technology.