USA: The President’s Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technologies

On 12 December 2013, the President's Review Group revealed its Report and Recommendations entitled "Liberty and Security in a Changing World". Looking at past and current practices of national security against threats of international terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and cyber espionage and warfare, the Report aknowledges a robust foreign intelligence collection capability and aims to harmonize it with the committment to the protection of privacy and civil liberties ("fundamental values that can be and at times have been eroded by excessive intelligence collection"). Against this background, 46 recommendations are developed to change US intelligence collection activities.

At its heart, the Report suggests careful consideration of the following principles:

1. The United States Government must protect, at once, two different forms of security: national security and personal privacy.
2. The central task is one of risk management; multiple risks are involved, and all of them must be considered:
           > Risks to privacy;
           > Risks to freedom and civil liberties, on the Internet and elsewhere;
           > Risks to our relationships with other nations; and
           > Risks to trade and commerce, including international commerce.
3. The idea of “balancing” has an important element of truth, but it is also inadequate and misleading.
4. The government should base its decisions on a careful analysis of consequences, including both benefits and costs (to the extent feasible).

The actual Recommendations for reform (pp. 24 - 42) concern the following areas:

• Surveillance of US Persons (p. 17
• Surveillance of Non-US Persons (p. 19)
• Setting Priorities and Avoiding Unjustified or Unnecessary Surveillance (p. 20)
• Organizational Reform (p. 21)
• Global Communications Technology (p. 22)
• Protecting What We Do Collect (p. 23)

"Liberty and Security in a Changing World", Report and Recommendations of The President’s Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technologies, 12 December 2013