Origanalist
08-26-2013, 06:49 AM
(Reuters) - Safeguards to ensure that U.S. surveillance measures are not abused have worked but must be improved as technology advances, President Barack Obama said in an interview with CNN that aired on Friday.
The Obama administration has been on the defensive since former U.S. contractor Edward Snowden revealed information on the sweep of secret government surveillance measures.
The president has made a point of saying the programs were not spying on Americans. But documents released this week showed the National Security Agency may have unintentionally collected as many as 56,000 emails of Americans per year between 2008 and 2011. A secret U.S. court subsequently said the program may have violated U.S. law.
The revelations led to new questions about operations by the eavesdropping NSA and its oversight by the secret U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC).
Obama said the discovery of the mistake and the court's demand that safeguards be improved showed the system of oversight had functioned appropriately.
"All these safeguards, checks, audits, oversight worked," he said in the interview on CNN's "New Day" program......
more at http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/23/us-usa-security-nsa-obama-idUSBRE97M0JW20130823
The Obama administration has been on the defensive since former U.S. contractor Edward Snowden revealed information on the sweep of secret government surveillance measures.
The president has made a point of saying the programs were not spying on Americans. But documents released this week showed the National Security Agency may have unintentionally collected as many as 56,000 emails of Americans per year between 2008 and 2011. A secret U.S. court subsequently said the program may have violated U.S. law.
The revelations led to new questions about operations by the eavesdropping NSA and its oversight by the secret U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC).
Obama said the discovery of the mistake and the court's demand that safeguards be improved showed the system of oversight had functioned appropriately.
"All these safeguards, checks, audits, oversight worked," he said in the interview on CNN's "New Day" program......
more at http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/23/us-usa-security-nsa-obama-idUSBRE97M0JW20130823