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Obama to Present Plans for NSA Reform Next Week

By Jeralyn, Section Obama Administration
Posted on Fri Jan 10, 2014 at 01:08:27 PM EST
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On January 17, President Obama will present a plan for the reform of NSA surveillance practices.

The Pentagon now says Edward Snowden downloaded 1.7 million files.

In related news, the State Department has issued a new FAQ on terrorism classifications.

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    Obama to Present Plans for NSA Reform Next Week | 15 comments (15 topical)

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    Thank you, Mr. Snowden (5.00 / 1) (#1)
    by Dadler on Fri Jan 10, 2014 at 02:54:29 PM EST
    F.U., Mr. Obama. Pardon this kid already. If you can manage to be a big enough man.

    Good to See the Fox... (5.00 / 1) (#2)
    by ScottW714 on Fri Jan 10, 2014 at 03:02:46 PM EST
    ... will 'present a plan' in regards to henhouse practices.

    They are to move the obtrusive data collected to corporate owned servers the NSA will have full access to.

    This announcement comes the day Target announces that 110 million customer accounts were affected by their hack at Christmas.

    Not only did Target's announcement on Friday disclose a vastly expanded universe of credit and debit theft victims, but it revealed that the hackers stole a broader trove of data than originally reported. The company now says that other kinds of information were taken, including mailing and email addresses, phone numbers and names.
    LINK

    That has to be damn near every account.  But I am sure our data will be safe with the other guys...

    Neiman Marcus (none / 0) (#7)
    by Politalkix on Fri Jan 10, 2014 at 10:15:42 PM EST
    hacked also. link

    Parent
    The Presidentially appointed (5.00 / 1) (#3)
    by KeysDan on Fri Jan 10, 2014 at 06:06:23 PM EST
    Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technology came up with a reasonable and sensible series of reforms, consisting of 46 recommendations.

    Yes, forty-six, which in and of itself would seem to argue that reforms are needed and in order.  The President took this report with him on his Christmas vacation so that he could study it, although one important recommendation did not take much consideration since it was dismissed out-of-hand.  Namely,that NSA be split from U.S. military Cyber Command. So  the NSA director will remain a general or admiral, where, in my view, a civilian should be at the helm of this spying agency.

    But, the review group's recommendations would continue un-targeted spying and the bulk collection of data. Moreover, it is not clear how much better off we will be if private company servers are holding data instead of government data centers.

    The FISA Court definitely needs change in how and who is appointed. Perhaps, a senate confirmation hearing, modified in that it would be conducted by the Intelligence Committee would be a safeguarding step.  And, if it is to continue to be labeled a "Court" it should provide for more than government arguments.

      Hopefully,  something more than a patina of change will be made  so as to head- off Congressional action and to pacify citizens who have become aware of the program's sweeping extent owing, in large measure, to Edward Snowden.  

     It will be difficult for the President to make meaningful reforms in the context of the long-term, creeping alteration of the presidential oath of office which has, in effect  morphed into: '..will to the best of my ability preserve, protect and defend the constitution, so long as it does not interfere with my role as custodian of the national security state.'

    "a patina of change" (5.00 / 1) (#5)
    by Mr Natural on Fri Jan 10, 2014 at 06:21:30 PM EST
    - you nailed it.

    Parent
    And it will probably have some (5.00 / 2) (#4)
    by Anne on Fri Jan 10, 2014 at 06:09:21 PM EST
    catchy little name in the tradition of the "Healthy Forests Initiative" or the "Clean Air Act," that will fool people into thinking Obama is riding to the rescue of the American people's privacy.

    Or Obama will emphasize how important it is for the American people to trust these intelligence agencies again, as if this is just a PR disaster he needs to clean up.

    SSDD?  We'll see.

    Hard to forget his initial response, that (none / 0) (#10)
    by Mr Natural on Sat Jan 11, 2014 at 11:41:34 AM EST
    he thought we should feel comfortable with NSA surveillance.

    Parent
    Obama (5.00 / 1) (#8)
    by lentinel on Fri Jan 10, 2014 at 10:57:31 PM EST
    has already expressed himself with respect to the massive spying by the NSA.

    He referred to it as, "an inconvenience".

    So now it will become "convenient"?

    A few (5.00 / 1) (#9)
    by lentinel on Sat Jan 11, 2014 at 09:05:45 AM EST
    suggested reforms:

    Monitor only between 8am and 1:30 pm.

    Collect data for A - K on Mondays and Wednesdays.
    Collect data for L - Y on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
    "Z" to be collected on Sunday between 8 - 10am.

    Hold an annual gala for the person who has compiled the most complete dossier about someone who has not been accused of anything.


    Don't hold your breath (5.00 / 1) (#12)
    by jbindc