WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Friday made a forceful call to narrow the government's access to millions of Americans' phone records as part of an overhaul of surveillance activities that have raised concerns about official overreach.


In a speech at the Justice Department, Obama ordered several immediate steps to limit the NSA program that collects domestic phone records, as well as other surveillance practices that were exposed last year by former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden.

Obama directed that from now on, the government must obtain a court order for each phone number it wants to query in its database of records. Analysts will be able to review phone calls that are two steps removed from a number associated with a terrorist organization instead of three. And he ordered a halt to eavesdropping on dozens of foreign leaders and governments that are friends or allies.

The changes mark the first significant constraints imposed by the Obama administration on surveillance programs that expanded dramatically in the decade after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Many of the changes could take months if not longer to implement, and already critics from diverse camps — in Congress and outside it — are warning that what he has called for might be unworkable.

He gave subordinates, including Attorney General Eric Holder, until March 28 to develop a plan to "transition" the bulk data out of the possession of the government. Existing authorities for the phone records program are set to expire on that date, requiring a reauthorization by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.


Reaction to Obama's call to end the phone records collection was mixed and underscored the political challenge he faces in achieving his goal.

Democratic Sen. Mark Udall of Colorado, who has been critical of the NSA's actions, called Obama's announcement a "real milestone" and said he will follow up to ensure implement the new policy.

"Today was a historic day," Udall said. "We are going to preserve political liberties and protect American security."

But many civil liberties groups said Obama failed to advance real reform by leaving open the door to third-party storage of records and data retention mandates.

Denver Post reporter Carlos Illescas contributed to this report.

Proposed changes


NATIONAL SECURITY LETTERS: Federal law enforcement officers issue these letters to banks, phone companies and others, demanding customer information, and the recipients are currently barred from disclosing that they've received the requests. Under President Obama's proposal, if the government can't establish the need to keep the letters secret, the secrecy will be lifted after a set time period.

SPYING ON LEADERS OVERSEAS: Going forward, the U.S. won't monitor the communications of "our close friends and allies overseas" unless there's a compelling national security purpose. The White House isn't publicizing a list of which countries fall under that category.

SPYING ON FOREIGNERS: Obama is proposing to extend to foreigners some protections against spying that U.S. citizens enjoy.

PRIVACY ADVOCATE: Obama called for a panel of outside advocates that can represent privacy and civil liberty concerns before the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.