Recommended 4U: OBAMA MENGUMUMKAN Overhaul program NSA . . .

U.S. President Barack Obama (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque – think IN pictures @1WORLDCommunity)

Ct1Mahani | SitiWanMahani - Presiden Barack Obama mengumumkan seperti yang diha-rapkan pada hari Jumaat rombakan besar kepada beberapa operasi pengawasan yang paling dipertikaikan Agensi Keselamatan Negara 7 bulan selepas mereka pertama kali yang didedahkan, mengawal dalam program koleksi metadata antara lainnya.

Berkuatkuasa serta merta, presiden itu berkata, pegawai-pegawai NSA perlu mendapatkan kebenaran mahkamah untuk mengakses arkib kerajaan metadata telefon - harta kecer-dasan yang telah kerap dikutip oleh kerajaan melalui satu program yang penyokong pasti mengatakan adalah counterterrorism sisi undang-undang yang kukuh dan penting alat dibenarkan di bawah Seksyen 215 Amerika Syarikat Akta Patriot.

Bukti program yang telah didedahkan Jun lalu melalui 'classified documents' dide-dahkan kepada media oleh bekas kontraktor NSA Edward Snowden dan didorong per-bincangan antarabangsa serta-merta dan berterusan yang terkumpul dengan sokongan presiden reformasi dalam ucapannya pagi Jumaat di dalam bangunan Jabatan Kehakiman di pusat bandar Washington, DC.

“Saya percaya kita perlu pendekatan baru,” kata Encik Obama. “Saya dengan itu meme-rintahkan peralihan yang akan berakhir Seksyen 215 program koleksi metadata pukal kerana ia kini wujud, dan menetapkan satu mekanisme yang mengekalkan keupayaan kita perlukan tanpa kerajaan memegang metadata pukal ini.”

Tepat yang akan bertanggungjawab bagi memegang rekod telefon berkaitan dengan berjuta-juta rakyat Amerika masih belum membuat keputusan, bagaimanapun, dan Encik Obama berkata dia ditugaskan Amerika Syarikat Peguam Negara Eric Holder, komuniti perisikan dan Kongres dengan mencari penyelesaian.

Antara yang pertama dokumen rahsia bocor oleh bekas kontraktor NSA Edward Snowden sejak Jun bukti yang mendedahkan kerajaan Amerika Syarikat telah kerap memaksa (compelled) syarikat telekomunikasi negara untuk dipanggil metadata, seterusnya mene-rima secara rutin butiran primitif tentang setiap dan tiap-tiap panggilan telefon yang didail. Tetapi manakala Encik Obama dan pentadbirannya telah banyak mempertahankan program sehingga dan semasa ucapan Jumaat, pengkritik telah mengutuk program dan lain-lain seperti itu didedahkan oleh Mr Snowden dan telah menuduh kerajaan melanggar kebebasan awam dan hak untuk privasi tidak hanya Amerika, tetapi berjuta-juta di seluruh DUNIA.

Dokumen-dokumen lain yang dinyatakan oleh Encik Snowden sejak Jun telah mende-dahkan program NSA yang sasaran komunikasi orang2 asing (foreign persons), termasuk warga purata dan pemimpin bersekutu sama. Seperti yang dijangka (expected), Obama mengumumkan niat untuk reformasi beberapa orang operasi dalam alamat Jumaat juga.

Ayat-ayat yang NSA menyolek telefon peribadi pemimpin-pemimpin asing seperti Canselor Jerman Angela Merkel menyebabkan kemarahan di seluruh dunia pada tahun lepas, tetapi pada ucapan Jumaat Encik Obama berkata bahawa Amerika Syarikat adalah “satu-satunya kuasa besar DUNIA” dan mesti terus menjalankan operasi sekutu tidak dapat mencapai dgn sendirinya.

“Kita tidak akan meminta maaf hanya kerana perkhidmatan kami mungkin lebih ber-kesan,” kata presiden, “tetapi ketua negara dan kerajaan dengan siapa kita bekerja rapat . . . harus berasa yakin bahawa kita merawat mereka sebagai rakan yang sebenar.”

Kerajaan Amerika Syarikat “akan terus mengumpul maklumat tentang niat” kerajaan asing, kata Presiden. Sebaliknya, walaupun, beliau juga berjanji NSA “tidak akan meman-tau komunikasi ketua Negara” atas barisan rakan-rakan bersekutu kecuali ada tujuan keselamatan negara menarik dipertaruhkan. Seksyen 702 Akta Pengawasan Perisikan Asing (FISA) akan tertakluk kepada pembaharuan baru juga, katanya, membenarkan kerajaan untuk memintas komunikasi sasaran di luar negara dengan maklumat penting tanpa meletakkan sebanyak orang Amerika dan orang asing kebetulan disasarkan di bawah kaca mencari.

Banyak pelan baru presiden melibatkan aktiviti di House, bagaimanapun, termasuk refor-masi bertujuan untuk menangani kebimbangan dengan cara kerajaan mengumpul pelbagai operasi perisikan yang mungkin pada masa-masa hadir butiran berkaitan dengan orang Amerika Syarikat.

Beberapa isu menyentuh oleh Encik Obama semasa ucapan Jumaat adalah termasuk dalam arahan dasar presiden diterbitkan awal pagi itu:

Obama Announces NSA programs Overhaul

President Barack Obama announced as expected on Friday a major overhaul to some of the National Security Agency’s most disputed surveillance operations seven months after they was first exposed, reining in the metadata collection program among others.

Effective immediately, the president said, NSA officials must obtain court permission in order to access the government’s archive of telephone metadata — a trove of intelligence that has been regularly collected by the government through a program that its proponents say is a legally sound and crucial counterterrorism tool justified under Section 215 of the United States Patriot Act.

Evidence of that program was exposed last June through classified documents disclosed to the media by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden and spurred an immediate and ongoing international discussion that cumulated with the president’s endorsement of reform during a Friday morning speech inside the Justice Department building in downtown Washington, DC.

“I believe we need a new approach,” Mr. Obama said. “I am therefore ordering a transition that will end the Section 215 bulk metadata collection program as it currently exists, and establishes a mechanism that preserves the capabilities we need without the government holding this bulk metadata.”

Exactly who will be in charge of holding onto the phone records pertaining to millions of Americans has yet to be decided, however, and Mr. Obama says he’s tasked United States Attorney General Eric Holder, the intelligence community and Congress with finding a solution.

Among the first of top-secret documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden since June is evidence that revealed the US government has regularly compelled the nation’s telecommunication companies for so-called metadata, in turn receiving on routine basis the primitive details about each and every phone call dialed. But while Mr. Obama and his administration has largely defended the program up to and during Friday’s speech, critics have condemned that program and others like it exposed by Mr. Snowden and have accused the government of violating the civil liberties and rights to privacy of not just Americans, but millions around the globe.

Other documents disclosed by Mr. Snowden since June have revealed NSA programs that target the communications of foreign persons, including average citizens and allied leaders alike. As expected, Obama announced his intent to reform some of those operations during Friday’s address as well.

Revelations that the NSA had tapped the personal phones of foreign leaders like German Chancellor Angela Merkel caused outrage around the world last year, but on Friday’s speech Mr. Obama said that the US is the “world’s only superpower” and must continue to conduct operations allies are not able to accomplish on their own.

“We will not apologize simply because our services may be more effective,” the president said, “but heads of state and governments with whom we work closely . . . should feel confident that we are treating them as real partners.”

The US government “will continue to gather information about the intentions” of foreign governments, the president said. On the contrary, though, he also promised the NSA “will not monitor the communications of heads of state” atop the ranks of allied partners unless there are compelling national security purposes at stake. Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) will be subjected to new reform as well, he said, allowing the government to intercept the communications of overseas targets with important information without putting as many Americans and foreign persons incidentally targeted under the looking glass.

More of the president’s new plans involve activity at home, however, including reformations meant to address concerns with how the government collects an array of intelligence gathering operations that may at times turn up the details pertaining to US persons.

Some of the issues touched upon by Mr. Obama during Friday's address are included in a presidential policy directive published earlier that morning:

2014sigint Mem Ppd Rel

Ketika mengumumkan perubahan kepada program metadata dilaksanakan melalui Sec. 215, Encik Obama berkata, “Saya percaya bahawa pengkritik betul untuk menunjukkan bahawa tanpa perlindungan yang betul, jenis program boleh digunakan untuk meng-hasilkan lebih banyak maklumat mengenai kehidupan peribadi kami dan membuka pintu kepada banyak mengganggu program kutipan pukal pada masa hadapan.” pentadbiran beliau akan bermula serta-merta berusaha ke arah memindahkan milikan rekod dari NSA, presiden itu menambah, pada masa yang sama dengan ketara mengurangkan bilangan orang yang maklumat dikumpul.

“Berkuatkuasa serta merta,” katanya, “kami hanya melaksanakan panggilan telefon yang 2 langkah dikeluarkan daripada beberapa yang berkaitan dengan persatuan pengganas”. Sehingga kini kerajaan Amerika Syarikat telah diberikan sendiri pihak berkuasa untuk menyiasat kelakuan orang yang dipisahkan oleh 3 langkah, atau “hop,” daripada bilangan yang disasarkan. Tahun lepas, Kesatuan Kebebasan Sivil Amerika mendakwa bahawa seseorang yang mempunyai 40 kenalan di dalam buku alamat telefon mudah alih mereka boleh disambungkan kepada lebih kurang 2. 5 juta orang lain menggunakan “3 hop” peraturan.

Bulan lepas, sekumpulan kajian 5-orang yang dipilih oleh Pres. Obama selepas fajar kebocoran Snowden membebaskan penemuan mereka mengenai bagaimana mereka percaya kerajaan persekutuan perlu pembaharuan program NSA itu. Walaupun presiden diendahkan hanya sebahagian kecil daripada mereka, menurut janji yang dibuat semasa ucapan Jumaat, beliau juga menyokong perubahan ketara kepada program pengawasan lain yang telah melanda kord kalangan libertarian awam.

Surat Keselamatan Negara, atau NSLs, misalnya, boleh dihantar melalui ejen-ejen perse-kutuan untuk perniagaan swasta untuk memaksa mereka untuk menyediakan mak-lumat khusus mengenai pelanggan tertentu tanpa orang disasarkan pernah diberitahu mereka berada di bawah penyiasatan. “Kita boleh dan perlu lebih telus tentang bagai-mana kerajaan menggunakan kuasa ini,” presiden yang tersebut daripada ibu pejabat DoJ, dan dalam usaha untuk melakukan sebanyak beliau telah mengarahkan Pemegang Peguam Negara untuk meminda bagaimana NSLs sedang digunakan.

Encik Obama juga mengumumkan bahawa dia meminta Kongres untuk menubuhkan panel peguam bela dari luar kerajaan untuk menyediakan suara bebas sebelum Perisikan Asing Pengawasan Mahkamah, atau FISC, yang memberi kuasa dalam penyadapan rahsia dan operasi mata-mata yang sama di bawah apa yang pengkritik memanggil sedikit untuk - tiada pengawasan.

In announcing changes to metadata program carried out through Sec. 215, Mr. Obama said, “I believe critics are right to point out that without proper safeguards, this type of program could be used to yield more information about our private lives and open the door to more intrusive bulk collection programs in the future.” His administration will begin immediately working towards transferring possession of those records away from the NSA, the president added, while at the same time significantly cutting down the number of persons whose information is collected.

“Effective immediately,” he added, “we will only pursue phone calls that are two steps removed from a number associated with a terrorist association.” Until now the US government has given itself the authority to investigate the conduct of people separated by three steps, or “hops,” from a targeted number. Last year, the American Civil Liberties Union claimed that a person with 40 contacts in their mobile phone address book could be connected to roughly 2.5 million others using the “three hops” rule.

Last month, a five-person review group handpicked by Pres. Obama after the dawn of the Snowden leaks released their findings with regards to how they believe the federal government should reform the NSA’s programs. Although the president heeded only a fraction of those, according to promises made during Friday’s address, he did also endorse significant changes to other surveillance programs that have struck a chord among civil libertarians.

National Security Letters, or NSLs, for instance, can be sent by federal agents to private businesses in order to compel them to provide specific information about certain customers without that targeted person ever being told they are under investigation. “We can and should be more transparent as to how the government uses this authority,” the president said from the DoJ headquarters, and in an effort to do as much he has directed Attorney General Holder to amend how NSLs are currently used.

Mr. Obama also announced that he’s asked Congress to establish a panel of advocate from outside of government to provide an independent voice before the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, or FISC, which authorizes in secret wiretaps and similar spy operations under what critics call little-to-no oversight.