President Barack Obama has announced major changes in current practices involving the storage of and access to bulk metadata of American citizens by the U.S.intelligence community. Other targets include the presence of a public advocate during FISA court deliberations; new privacy protections for non-Americans; and new restrictions on spying on leaders of allied countries. Obama offered a robust defense of the U.S. intelligence services, saying that there was no evidence they had abused their power, and that many of their methods were necessary to protect Americans. We will not apologize simply because our services may be more effective, he said. The President noted that some countries that have loudly criticized the NSA privately acknowledge that America has special responsibilities as the worlds only superpower . . . and that they themselves have relied on the information we obtain to protect their own people.
In a 300-page report forty-six recommendations have been made for better management of, and different guiding rules for, U.S. surveillance programs. Reported recommendations include that the NSA should be banned from attempting to undermine the security of the Internet and prohibited from collecting telephone records in bulk. An announcement by the President is expected by 28 January which of the forty-six recommendations he would accept.