Obama Offers Plan Meant to Ease Concerns on Surveillance

By CHARLIE SAVAGE and MICHAEL D. SHEAR, NYT
Published: August 9, 2013

WASHINGTON — President Obama on Friday sought to get his administration ahead of the roiling debate over National Security Agency surveillance, releasing new information about spying activities and calling for changes aimed at bolstering public confidence that the programs do not intrude too far into Americans’ privacy.

At a time when leaks by the former N.S.A. contractor Edward J. Snowden have ripped the veil from the agency’s expansive spying both inside the United States and abroad, Mr. Obama held a news conference at which he conceded a need for greater openness and safeguards over vast American surveillance efforts.

“It’s right to ask questions about surveillance, particularly as technology is reshaping every aspect of our lives,” Mr. Obama said, adding: “It’s not enough for me, as president, to have confidence in these programs. The American people need to have confidence in them as well.”

Among other steps, Mr. Obama announced the creation of a high-level task force of outside intelligence and civil liberties specialists to advise the government about how to balance security and privacy as computer technology makes it possible to gather ever more information about people’s private lives.

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