The US is planning to set up a new group to review the government’s signals-intelligence collection and surveillance programme, following widespread criticism of the programme.
The Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technologies will deal with the technical and policy issues that crop up from rapid advances in telecommunications globally. the White said.
US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said: "The review group will assess whether, in light of advancements in communications technologies, the United States employs its technical collection capabilities in a manner that optimally protects our national security and advances our foreign policy while appropriately accounting for other policy considerations, such as the risk of unauthorized disclosure and our need to maintain the public trust."
Observing the government’s signals-intelligence collection and surveillance capabilities, the new group will employ technologies that offer ‘unprecedented capabilities’ to monitor communications.
The new group will brief its short-term findings to President Barrack Obama within 60 days of its formation and offer a final report with proposals before 15 December 2013.
