This article is from the source 'guardian' 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.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/27/obama-proposes-end-nsa-bulk-data-collection

The article has changed 8 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Obama formally proposes end to NSA's bulk collection of telephone data Obama formally proposes end to NSA's bulk collection of telephone data
(35 minutes later)
The Obama administration formally proposed ending the National Security Agency's bulk collection of all US phone data on Thursday. The Obama administration on Thursday formally proposed ending the National Security Agency's bulk collection of all US phone data.
Nearly 10 months after the Guardian exposed the controversial program, based on leaks from Edward Snowden, President Obama announced he would seek legislation that would require the NSA to seek an individual order from the secret Fisa court before phone companies turn over data on their customers. Nearly 10 months after the Guardian exposed the controversial program, based on leaks from Edward Snowden, President Obama announced that he would seek legislation that would require the NSA to seek an individual order from the secret Fisa court before phone companies turn over data on their customers.
"I have decided that the best path forward is that the government should not collect or hold this data in bulk," Obama said in a statement. "Instead, the data should remain at the telephone companies for the length of time it currently does today.""I have decided that the best path forward is that the government should not collect or hold this data in bulk," Obama said in a statement. "Instead, the data should remain at the telephone companies for the length of time it currently does today."
While bulk phone data would no longer be collected by NSA, phone companies would, in response to a court order, turn over a suspicious phone number, as well as all the numbers it called and received, and all numbers those numbers called and received. The move goes further than Obama’s position on bulk surveillance in January, when the president left the door open to the possibility of the data being held by a private-sector third party. That position was vigorously opposed by the phone companies and criticised by proponents and critics of the NSA alike.
Analysts could search that data for connections on a "limited" and "circumscribed" basis, a senior official said, but the administration has yet to decide on a specific time period. Bulk phone data would no longer be collected by NSA under the latest proposals. Instead phone companies would, in response to a court order, turn over a suspicious phone number as well as all the numbers it called and received, and all numbers those numbers called and received, on an “ongoing and prospective basis”, according to an administration official.
The administration has yet to decide on a specific time limitation for querying the data, but “there would be some limited time period,” the official told reporters on Thursday. “That’s something we’re going to have to talk with Congress about.”
The Obama administration is seeking legislation to enact the changes, but it has not settled between competing proposals currently before Congress.The Obama administration is seeking legislation to enact the changes, but it has not settled between competing proposals currently before Congress.
"I am confident that this approach can provide our intelligence and law enforcement professionals the information they need to keep us safe while addressing the legitimate privacy concerns that have been raised," Obama said in a statement. “I am confident that this approach can provide our intelligence and law enforcement professionals the information they need to keep us safe while addressing the legitimate privacy concerns that have been raised,” Obama said.
The current bulk collection program, which has existed in various forms since 2001, will continue under the authorization of the Fisa court for another 90-day period until legislation along the administration guidelines passes, the official said. But the NSA is not yet out of the business of harvesting phone data in bulk, which it has done in secret in various forms since late 2001. The administration said it would seek approval from the Fisa court to continue the programs for another 90-day period under restrictions in place since January, until Congress passes a bill along the administration’s guidelines.
A senior administration official indicated that the legal standard by which the court could order phone companies to turn over customer data would be a "reasonable articulable suspicion" of a phone number’s connection to terrorism or espionage. That is a lower threshold than relevance to an ongoing terror investigation, the language of Section 215 of the Patriot Act, the current authorisation the administration claims for bulk domestic phone data collection.
Since January, the NSA has been permitted to query its phone data troves only after the Fisa court first certifies it possesses reasonable, articulable suspicion of a record’s connection to terrorism. “So that provides, I think, a good baseline, and a good point from which we can work with Congress to develop the proposal,” said the senior official, who would not agree to be identified.
It also aligns with a proposal with a bill put forward on Tuesday by the leaders of the House of Representatives intelligence committee, Republican Mike Rogers of Michigan and Democrat Dutch Ruppersberger of Maryland, which uses that standard.
But a key difference between the committee's proposal and the one outlined by administration officials on Thursday was a judge’s prior approval for individual phone numbers. The House panel wants the surveillance judges to review the specific collection after the fact, something the administration rejects in all but emergency cases.
A rival bill proposed by members of the Senate and House judiciary committees would require prior judicial approval for specific phone data, but would set the legal threshold for acquisition of the data higher than what the administration desires.
The Obama administration left several aspects of its desired surveillance policy unaddressed on Thursday.
Although officials explaining the policy on a conference call with reporters said they wanted the government to no longer “hold” the data, they did not unveil any changes to the NSA’s so-called “corporate store” of analysed phone records. That store, according to the government’s official privacy and civil liberties watchdog, contains tens of millions of phone numbers, and analysts do not face any restrictions on searching through it.
Nor did the administration outline any changes to its consideration of privacy rights for non-Americans abroad, something Obama said in his January speech the NSA needed to consider.
Also left unspoken on Thursday was the fate of Snowden, the former NSA contractor whose disclosures prompted the administration to restrict its surveillance dragnets.
Snowden is in Russia on temporary asylum after the State Department cancelled his passport. The Justice Department is considering an indictment on espionage-related charges.
Even as US government officials in both the executive and legislative branches have moved closer to ending bulk domestic surveillance, the practice Snowden says prompted his disclosures, they have accused him without public evidence of endangering the lives of US troops in the future and even laid responsibility for the Russian invasion of Crimea at his feet.
At the White House, the reversal in positions by Obama on bulk data collection has not translated into leniency for Snowden.
“There's no change in our position that he needs to return and face the felony charges against him,” said Caitlin Hayden, spokeswoman for the National Security Council.