Privacy Advocates Sound Off on Obama's Proposed NSA Reforms

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was one of several prominent privacy advocates to weigh in on President Barack Obama's speech on reforms to NSA surveillance on Jan. 17, 2014.
Image: Kirsty Wigglesworth/Associated Press

U.S. President Barack Obama laid out his plan for reforming the National Security Agency's widely-derided surveillance tactics Friday, after months of pressure to do so from privacy advocates, technology companies and fellow elected officials.

The global debate on government surveillance, fueled by documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, is now more than seven months old. Obama first promised to enact changes to NSA policies in August, two months after the Snowden leaks went public. Since then, technology industry leaders, high-level government officials and privacy groups have all urged Obama to make wholesale changes to NSA programs in a timely manner.

After Obama revealed his plan Friday morning, those same critics sounded off, offering a wide range of reactions. Some called the reforms a "major milestone" while others accused Obama of saying "almost nothing" during the speech.

Below is a summary of those reactions from some of Obama's most prominent privacy critics.

The Critics React

Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) has been one of the most outspoken members of Congress when it comes to the privacy debate — he called the plan a big step forward.

The most significant reform Obama announced was a change to the NSA's bulk collection and storage of telephone metadata. Obama said the NSA can no longer tap into the vast trove of data it collects without a court order, and eventually the government will rely on third parties to hold the data.

While this is considered a victory for privacy by many, Glenn Greenwald, one of the journalists who received leaked documents from Snowden, questioned Obama on this point.

Trevor Timm, executive director of advocacy group Freedom of the Press, took note of a significant omission from Obama's speech.

Eight of the world's most powerful tech companies, which last month joined together to form a "Reform Government Surveillance" campaign, offered some support for Obama's proposal but said there is still more to be done. The group of companies — Google, Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, Twitter, AOL, LinkedIn and Yahoo — emailed Mashable the following joint statement:

The commitments outlined by President Obama represent positive progress on key issues including transparency from the government and in what companies will be allowed to disclose, extending privacy protections to non-US citizens, and FISA court reform. Crucial details remain to be addressed on these issues, and additional steps are needed on other important issues, so we’ll continue to work with the Administration and Congress to keep the momentum going and advocate for reforms consistent with the principles we outlined in December.

Speaking on CNN after the speech, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange took potshots at the plan, accusing the president of both lying and saying "almost nothing."

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ken.) was another who thought Obama's proposed reforms didn't go far enough.

"While I am encouraged the President is addressing the NSA spying program because of pressure from Congress and the American people, I am disappointed in the details," Paul said in a statement. "President Obama's announced solution to the NSA spying controversy is the same unconstitutional program with a new configuration."

Finnish cyber security expert Mikko Hypponen offered measured support for Obama's announcement that he will extend some protections on U.S. surveillance to foreign citizens and leaders.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), another fierce critic of NSA surveillance techniques, wrote that the reforms Obama proposed are a good start.

In a statement, Wyden said the following:


The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a privacy advocacy group, seemed to agree with Wyden's premise that there is still a long way to go. The EFF even released a scorecard, grading Obama's proposed reforms.

Obama scorecard

Since not all of Obama's reforms take effect immediately, and many are simply proposals without specific details in place, it's not yet clear how substantially Friday's announcements will affect the furthest reaches of government surveillance.

Judging by the range of critics' reactions, however, the debate over NSA tactics won't be ending anytime soon.


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