WASHINGTON - US legal and intelligence experts ordered by President Barack Obama to review National Security Agency practices on Wednesday called for a sweeping overhaul of US surveillance programs while preserving "robust" intelligence capabilities.It looks like we're in danger of common sense breaking out in Washington.
The five-member panel of advisers also urged reforms at a secret national security court and an end to bulk retention of telephone "metadata" by the spy agency, by keeping those records in private hands subject to specific queries from the NSA or law enforcement.
The 308-report also called for "significant steps" to be taken "to protect the privacy of non-US persons," and urged more cooperation with allies to avoid the diplomatic fallout from revelations of US intelligence gathering.
"In our view, the current storage by the government of bulk metadata creates potential risks to public trust, personal privacy, and civil liberty," the report said.Why, it looks like common sense is the forecast for today. Add in the recent court ruling that said that the government hadn't shown that metadata collection was actually useful for stopping terror attacks, and maybe there's a groundswell for change.
Maybe.
2 comments:
It looks like we're in danger of common sense breaking out in Washington. Someone will be sure to squash it like the first sprout of a seed.
Given how much credibility and money the NSA has cost the country, heads need to roll. Only when the bureaucrats have to fear for their jobs do they have an incentive to act rationally.
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