Obama Puts Limited Restraints on NSA Spying After Snowden …

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. intelligence agencies will limit the use of information they collect on foreigners, including purging material that isnt relevant to national security after five years, according to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

The new measures outlined in a report issued Tuesday are the Obama administrations response to the backlash against National Security Agency spying that was exposed by former U.S. contractor Edward Snowden.

U.S. intelligence agencies have updated their existing policies for collecting and retaining data about Americans and foreigners through electronic surveillance, or what is also known as signals intelligence, according to the report. Data on foreigners is now to be deleted within five years unless the director of national intelligence grants an extension.

As we continue to face threats from terrorism, proliferation, and cyber-attacks, we must use our intelligence capabilities in a way that optimally protects our national security and supports our foreign policy while keeping the public trust and respecting privacy and civil liberties, Lisa Monaco, assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism, said in a statement.

However, privacy advocates, some lawmakers and other critics have been seeking more severe restraints on the extensive government surveillance programs that intercept phone, Internet and other communications.

The report explains changes that intelligence agencies -- including the NSA, CIA and FBI -- have made to spying in response to a directive President Barack Obama issued in January 2014. The directive followed revelations of NSA spying that heightened tensions between the U.S. and other governments.

A rift developed between the Obama administration and other countries when classified documents leaked by Snowden to the media revealed the U.S. had spied on at least 35 foreign leaders, including the personal phones of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff. Obama is scheduled to host Merkel at the White House next week.

Under the policy changes, the National Security Council will have greater insight into the collection of foreign intelligence in order to address potential risks to national interests and our law enforcement, intelligence, and diplomatic relationships abroad, according to the report.

The NSA has enhanced its processes to ensure that targets are regularly reviewed, and those targets that are no longer providing valuable intelligence information in support of these senior policy maker-approved priorities are removed, according to the report.

The report doesnt substantially alter one of the most controversial domestic spying programs: the NSAs collection and storage of billions of phone records on Americans who arent suspected of any wrongdoing. The phone records include the time duration and dates of calls, not the content of conversations.

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Obama Puts Limited Restraints on NSA Spying After Snowden ...