Snowden revelations force Obama's hand on surveillance program
NSA leaker Edward Snowden’s revelations have forced President Barack Obama’s hand, leading the president to announce new reforms of the government’s classified surveillance programs.
After his administration issued repeated defenses of a National Security Agency monitoring program that collects Americans’ phone and Internet data, Obama announced during a press conference Friday afternoon that reforms to the system will make the collection activities more transparent and "give the American people additional confidence that there are additional safeguards against abuse."
Obama said the changes will include changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court system -- which currently greenlights requests for data gathering -- as well as the creation of both an internal NSA position devoted to privacy and an external working group to evaluate transparency in the program. Officials will also launch a new website next week that will serve as “a hub for further transparency” for interested members of the public.
President Obama described his conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin during a Friday press conference, saying their talks are "candid" and "blunt." He also emphasized he will not boycott the Olympics as a result of Russia's anti-gay laws. The best message is for gay and lesbian athletes to come home with the gold, Obama said. In other news, the State Department will reopen some of the U.S. embassies that had been close in response to a terror threat. NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.
"Given the history of abuse by governments, it’s right to ask questions about surveillance by governments, particularly as technology is reshaping every aspects of our lives," he said.
More at: http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/08/09/19950803-snowden-revelations-force-obamas-hand-on-surveillance-program?lite
= new reply since forum marked as read
