U.S. intelligence chiefs open to new surveillance controls

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Source: Reuters

U.S. intelligence chiefs open to new surveillance controls

By Patricia Zengerle
WASHINGTON | Thu Sep 26, 2013 6:57pm EDT

(Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers and intelligence chiefs, facing an outcry over the government's collection of personal communications data, said on Thursday they were open to measures tightening oversight of the government's sweeping electronic eavesdropping programs.

At a hearing on how to change the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to balance security and privacy concerns, the Senate Intelligence Committee unveiled provisions of proposed legislation to set new controls on government surveillance.

Among other things, the measure would set tighter standards on which telephone and internet records the National Security Agency can collect and limit the time that records can be held, said Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, the committee's chairwoman.

Acknowledging a "lowering of trust" in U.S. spy agencies, James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, said he would consider measures including limiting how long data is kept and releasing more information about how it is used.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/26/us-usa-surveillance-idUSBRE98P1E520130926

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