The NSA Report:
Liberty and Security in a Changing World
The President’s Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technologies: Richard A. Clarke, Michael J. Morell, Geoffrey R. Stone, Cass R. Sunstein & Peter Swire
(December 2013)
The Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technology, set up by President Obama in the wake of Edward Snowden’s revelations of NSA spying, published a 300-page report outlining 46 recommendations that could serve as a blueprint for a reconfigured spy agency.
▻http://press.princeton.edu/titles/10296.html
This is the official report that is helping shape the international debate about the unprecedented surveillance activities of the National Security Agency. Commissioned by President Obama following disclosures by former NSA contractor Edward J. Snowden, and written by a preeminent group of intelligence and legal experts, the report examines the extent of NSA programs and calls for dozens of urgent and practical reforms. The result is a blueprint showing how the government can reaffirm its commitment to privacy and civil liberties—without compromising national security.
▻https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2013/12/18/liberty-and-security-changing-world
The comprehensive report, unclassified in its entirety, sets forth forty-six recommendations designed to protect national security and advance our foreign policy while respecting our longstanding commitment to privacy and civil liberties. The Review Group’s product recognizes the need to maintain the public trust – including the trust of our friends and allies abroad – and proposes steps to reduce the risk of unauthorized disclosures.
In particular, the report highlights the need to develop principles designed to create sturdy foundations for the future, safeguarding liberty and security amidst a changing world. The recommendations emphasize risk management and the need to balance a wide range of potential consequences, including both costs and benefits, in considering potential reforms.
▻https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/docs/2013-12-12_rg_final_report.pdf
The initial request of that report by Obama in August 2013
▻https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2013/08/12/presidential-memorandum-reviewing-our-global-signals-intel
What’s in the report?
Highlights of the Report of the President’s Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technologies
(Marty Lederman)
▻https://www.justsecurity.org/4903/highlights-prgict
Comment on the report by one of the writers
▻http://www.huffingtonpost.com/geoffrey-r-stone/inside-the-presidents-rev_b_4485016.html
A review of that report
Inside the White House N.S.A. report: the good and the bad
(John Cassidy, December 2013)
▻http://www.newyorker.com/news/john-cassidy/inside-the-white-house-n-s-a-report-the-good-and-the-bad
I have some doubts about whether the report is as radical as these reactions might suggest. Ultimately, it is more about preserving the essentials of the current system, and making them more palatable rather than knocking them down. Still, it’s a fair bet to say that when the White House recruited the Review Group, in August, it didn’t expect their conclusions to be hailed by the A.C.L.U. The fact that they were says two things: the critics of the N.S.A., Snowden included, were right; and the members of the Review Group tackled a serious subject in a serious manner.
A critique of that report:
(Fred Fleiz, Clare Lopez, January 2014)
▻https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/011413RecordSub-Sessions.pdf