The President listens during a April National Security Council meeting in the Situation Room. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/whitehouse/11665393014/">White House</a>/Flickr
On Thursday, a number of civil liberties groups that have harshly criticized the NSA surveillance practices disclosed by Edward Snowden, are meeting with President Obama’s top lawyer, Kathy Ruemmler. This White House session is one of several this week with lawmakers, tech groups, and members of the intelligence community that will help the President soon decide whether to keep the controversial surveillance programs intact.
Among groups that are reportedly attending the meeting are the Center for Democracy and Technology, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), and the Federation of American Scientists. According to Caitlin Hayden, a spokesperson for the White House, the purpose of the meeting with Ruemmler “is to have a broad discussion regarding privacy and civil liberties protections and transparency initiatives.” According to a source with knowledge of the meeting, the meeting is likely the “next phase” of the Obama Administration’s attempt to decide “exactly how much of the Surveillance Review Group’s fairly radical recommendations they’re going to get behind.”
In December, this independent panel took a hard look at NSA snooping and issued 46 recommendations for reform, such as having phone carriers store domestic telephone records, rather than the NSA. Marc Rotenberg, the executive director of EPIC, tells Mother Jones that, “We support many of the recommendations contained in the report of the Review Group, particularly the proposal to end the NSA’s bulk collection of telephone records….But we think the President needs to do more.” He adds, “Privacy protection is not simply about NSA reform. We also need strong consumer safeguards.”
On Wednesday, President Obama is meeting with “leaders of the Intelligence community” and members of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, an independent agency that advises the President, according to Hayden. He will also meet with members of the House and Senate on Thursday to discuss surveillance issues. The Associated Press reports that he is expected to issue a final decision on NSA surveillance programs as early as next week.
