Panel backs broad spying curbs

Beef up court OKs, prohibit NSA data storage, board says

WASHINGTON - A presidential advisory panel has recommended sweeping limits on the government’s surveillance programs, including requiring a court to sign off on individual searches of phone records and stripping the National Security Agency of its ability to store Americans’ records.

While President Barack Obama ordered the review board to submit recommendations after government spying disclosures earlier this year, he is under no obligation to accept the proposals. The president also is conducting an internal review of the government’s surveillance programs and plans to announce his decisions in January.

The review board’s proposals address the government’s ability to collect intelligence in the United States and overseas.

The recommendations include tightening federal law enforcement’s use of so-called national security letters, which give the government authority to demand financial and phone records without prior court approval in national security cases. The task force recommended that authorities should be required to obtain a prior “judicial finding” showing “reasonable grounds” that the information sought is relevant to terrorism or other intelligence activities.

In addition, the panel proposed terminating the National Security Agency’s ability to store telephone data and instead require it to be held by phone companies or a third party. Access to the data would be permitted only through an order from a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

“With regard to the bulk metadata of phone calls, we think there should be judicial review before that information is accessed, and we don’t think the government should retain it,” said Richard Clarke, a member of the five-person panel.

If both recommendations were enacted, it’s likely they would slow down the intelligence collection process. The panel recommendations allow for exceptions “in emergencies,” leaving open the possibility of intelligence agencies scanning the information quickly and asking for permission later if they suspect imminent attack.

The task force did not say how long the phone companies would be required to hold the private data. The phone companies’ retention policies vary markedly, according to information recently provided to the Senate Commerce Committee, ranging from one year at Verizon and US Cellular to five years at AT&T and seven to 10years at T-Mobile.

Representatives of AT&T and Verizon declined to comment on the report. T-Mobile said it would look closely at the proposals. Spokesmen for US Cellular didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The panel also tackled the diplomatic furor over National Security Agency spying on the leaders of allied nations, including Germany. The group recommended that the president personally approve such spying and that the decisions be based in part on whether the United States shares “fundamental values and interests” with the leaders of those nations.

The United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday unanimously adopted a resolution aimed at protecting the right to privacy against unlawful surveillance. Germany and Brazil introduced the resolution, which is legally nonbinding, after a series of reports of U.S. eavesdropping.

The panel’s other recommendations include:

Guidelines for establishing reciprocal nonspying agreements with the United States

Creation of a civil-liberties policy official in the White House and at the Office of Management and Budget.

Changes to the vetting process for those trying to obtain security clearances, including requiring that the vetting process be ongoing for those accessing classified information.

Panel members said they did not think any of the recommendations would harm U.S. national security.

“We are not in any way recommending the disarming of the intelligence community,” said Michael Morell, a task force member and former deputy director of the CIA. “We’re not saying the struggle against terrorism is over.” Information for this article was contributed by Jim Kuhnhenn, Stephen Braun and Marcy Gordon of The Associated Press.

Front Section, Pages 3 on 12/19/2013

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