Obama to place some restraints on surveillance

New moves suggest a president trying to straddle a difficult line that will placate civil liberties advocates without a backlash from national security agencies

President Barack Obama will issue new guidelines on Friday to cur tail government surveillance, but will not embrace the most farreaching proposals of his own advisers and will ask Congress to help decide some of the toughest issues, according to people briefed on his thinking.

Obama plans to increase limits on access to bulk telephone data, call for privacy safeguards for foreigners and propose the creation of a public advocate to represent privacy concerns at a secret intelligence court. But he will not endorse leaving bulk data in the custody of telecommunications firms, nor will he require court permission for all so-called national security letters seeking business records.

The emerging approach, described by cur rent and former government officials who insisted on anonymity in advance of Obama’s widely anticipated speech, suggested a president trying to straddle a difficult line that will placate civil liberties advocates without a backlash from national security agencies.

The result seems to be a speech that leaves in place many current programs, but embraces the spirit of reform and keeps the door open to further changes later.

The decision to provide additional privacy protections for non- Americans or residents, for instance, largely codify existing practices but will be followed by a 180-day study by the director of national intelligence about whether to go further.

Likewise, instead of taking the storage of bulk data out of government hands, as recommended by a review panel he appointed, Obama will leave it in place for now and ask lawmakers to weigh in. NYT