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| Obama nears decision on NSA reforms as spy leaders meet at White House | Obama nears decision on NSA reforms as spy leaders meet at White House |
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| The leaders of the US intelligence agencies were holding talks at the White House on Wednesday as US president Barack Obama neared a decision on curbing the National Security Agency’s controversial bulk surveillance powers. | The leaders of the US intelligence agencies were holding talks at the White House on Wednesday as US president Barack Obama neared a decision on curbing the National Security Agency’s controversial bulk surveillance powers. |
| Obama was meeting the leadership of the US spy agencies and his privacy and civil liberties oversight board, to be followed on Thursday by additional meetings with key congressional leaders. | Obama was meeting the leadership of the US spy agencies and his privacy and civil liberties oversight board, to be followed on Thursday by additional meetings with key congressional leaders. |
| Legislators critical of the NSA’s bulk domestic phone records collection, such as senators Ron Wyden and Mark Udall and congressman James Sensenbrenner, were expected to attend. The White House will also welcome surveillance skeptics from the private sector, including ACLU President Susan Herman. | |
| According to the White House, Obama has yet to decide which NSA and FBI authorities to restrict and which to ratify. An announcement could come as early as next week, and the White House has said it will occur before the state of the union address on 28 January. | According to the White House, Obama has yet to decide which NSA and FBI authorities to restrict and which to ratify. An announcement could come as early as next week, and the White House has said it will occur before the state of the union address on 28 January. |
| “These meetings are an opportunity for the president to hear from key stakeholders as we near the end of our review,” said national security council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden. | “These meetings are an opportunity for the president to hear from key stakeholders as we near the end of our review,” said national security council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden. |
| There is widespread expectation that Obama will embrace a recommendation from his surveillance review board that urged him in December to have the phone companies or another private entity store Americans’ phone data on behalf of the NSA. Obama nodded to the idea in a press conference on 20 January by saying “there may be a better way of skinning the cat”. | There is widespread expectation that Obama will embrace a recommendation from his surveillance review board that urged him in December to have the phone companies or another private entity store Americans’ phone data on behalf of the NSA. Obama nodded to the idea in a press conference on 20 January by saying “there may be a better way of skinning the cat”. |
| The bulk domestic phone records collection was first reported by the Guardian in June last year, based on documents leaked by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. | The bulk domestic phone records collection was first reported by the Guardian in June last year, based on documents leaked by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. |
| Opponents of bulk surveillance are waiting to see precisely how such a proposal would take shape. The intelligence agencies have said they can live with the transference of the phone records database outside the NSA, provided it remains a comprehensive trove of all Americans’ phone data, to be queried for potential links to terrorist groups. That would likely necessitate requiring the storage of phone data for longer than the phone companies currently keep it, which NSA critics worry would repackage the bulk surveillance instead of ending it. | Opponents of bulk surveillance are waiting to see precisely how such a proposal would take shape. The intelligence agencies have said they can live with the transference of the phone records database outside the NSA, provided it remains a comprehensive trove of all Americans’ phone data, to be queried for potential links to terrorist groups. That would likely necessitate requiring the storage of phone data for longer than the phone companies currently keep it, which NSA critics worry would repackage the bulk surveillance instead of ending it. |
| “The administration has not yet made the case that increased data retention is necessary, but I welcome any proposals that serve our national security interests without undermining constitutional rights,” Sensenbrenner told the Guardian after the review group delivered its recommendations. | “The administration has not yet made the case that increased data retention is necessary, but I welcome any proposals that serve our national security interests without undermining constitutional rights,” Sensenbrenner told the Guardian after the review group delivered its recommendations. |
| Some of Sensenbrenner’s allies can accept phone records storage outside the NSA, provided the NSA can only sift through the records pursuant to an individualized court order tied to specific suspicions of wrongdoing. | Some of Sensenbrenner’s allies can accept phone records storage outside the NSA, provided the NSA can only sift through the records pursuant to an individualized court order tied to specific suspicions of wrongdoing. |
| The phone companies have indicated they are skeptical about keeping the phone records data on behalf of the NSA, fearing it opens them to increased legal liability and burdensome costs. There are also questions about a private entity’s ability to secure the data against cyberattacks. | The phone companies have indicated they are skeptical about keeping the phone records data on behalf of the NSA, fearing it opens them to increased legal liability and burdensome costs. There are also questions about a private entity’s ability to secure the data against cyberattacks. |
| But Sensenbrenner and other architects of a bill to end bulk domestic surveillance, known as the USA Freedom Act, have so far embraced the review group’s findings to build political momentum for the bill. | But Sensenbrenner and other architects of a bill to end bulk domestic surveillance, known as the USA Freedom Act, have so far embraced the review group’s findings to build political momentum for the bill. |
| Ahead of Obama’s announcements, the political landscape on surveillance is “absolute chaos”, said Michelle Richardson, the ACLU’s surveillance lobbyist. | |
| “It’s very confusing right now. We feel good about the House but have a problem in the Senate. We’re not getting a lot of people to budge on this issue,” Richardson said, particularly with moderate Democrats who will take their cues from Obama’s forthcoming address. | |
| On Monday and Tuesday, a coalition of technology groups plan to lobby Capitol Hill on behalf of the bill. They are expected to focus on Republican members of the House judiciary committee, one of several committees that must discuss and possibly amend the provisions of the USA Freedom Act. | On Monday and Tuesday, a coalition of technology groups plan to lobby Capitol Hill on behalf of the bill. They are expected to focus on Republican members of the House judiciary committee, one of several committees that must discuss and possibly amend the provisions of the USA Freedom Act. |
| Those Republicans “may be open to arguments from the perspective of commerce, productivity and business,” said Matt Simons of the software consulting firm ThoughtWorks, whose coalition also includes Reddit and broadband firm NetBlazr. (Disclosure: ThoughtWorks helped with a Guardian website rebuild.) | Those Republicans “may be open to arguments from the perspective of commerce, productivity and business,” said Matt Simons of the software consulting firm ThoughtWorks, whose coalition also includes Reddit and broadband firm NetBlazr. (Disclosure: ThoughtWorks helped with a Guardian website rebuild.) |
| Obama has yet to take a position on the USA Freedom Act. Nor has he indicated support or opposition to a rival bill in the Senate, sponsored by intelligence committee chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, that would entrench and expand the NSA’s domestic surveillance capabilities. But Feinstein said in December that the bulk surveillance she has championed was “important” but not “indispensable” for preventing terrorist attacks, which added to a sense that the NSA might no longer retain its phone records database. | Obama has yet to take a position on the USA Freedom Act. Nor has he indicated support or opposition to a rival bill in the Senate, sponsored by intelligence committee chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, that would entrench and expand the NSA’s domestic surveillance capabilities. But Feinstein said in December that the bulk surveillance she has championed was “important” but not “indispensable” for preventing terrorist attacks, which added to a sense that the NSA might no longer retain its phone records database. |
| Alexander has said that whomever holds the database, the expansive pool of phone records must exist, in order that security officials maintain a tool for spotting connections to terrorism. “There is no other way we know of to connect the dots,” Alexander told the Senate judiciary committee in December. | Alexander has said that whomever holds the database, the expansive pool of phone records must exist, in order that security officials maintain a tool for spotting connections to terrorism. “There is no other way we know of to connect the dots,” Alexander told the Senate judiciary committee in December. |
| Additionally, the office of the director of national intelligence said late Tuesday that three members of the review group – Geoffrey Stone, Cass Sunstein and Peter Swire – met NSA director James Clapper on Tuesday to discuss the group’s proposed spy changes. | Additionally, the office of the director of national intelligence said late Tuesday that three members of the review group – Geoffrey Stone, Cass Sunstein and Peter Swire – met NSA director James Clapper on Tuesday to discuss the group’s proposed spy changes. |
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