White House releases full NSA data collection report
Participants demonstrate in support of former NSA employee Edward Snowden at a protest march against the electronic surveillance tactics of the NSA on July 27, 2013 in Berlin.
UPDATE: The five-member panel suggested major changes to NSA legislation in their 300-page report, including requiring a court order before the NSA could search American phone record data.
Other suggestions include storing phone data outside of the NSA's facilities, as well as greater scrutiny of the surveillance of friendly foreign leaders, wrote the Associated Press.
The panel also suggested that a civilian be appointed the next chief of the NSA going forward, and that a public interest advocate should be appointed to represent both privacy and civil liberties interests before the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.
The panel made 46 suggestions in total, per a report from the Guardian. President Obama will not decide on which of these suggestions will be implemented until the new year arrives.
The White House released the full report prepared by a five member panel on the newly revealed National Security Agency today, well ahead of the projected January release date.
White House press secretary Jay Carney announced that the report, which was turned into the President on Sunday by the Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technologies, will be released to the public later on Wednesday.
More from GlobalPost: US judge says NSA phone data snooping probably illegal
How long is the report and its suggestions for improving the surveillance program? Avid NSA watchers may want to block out an afternoon:
The panel is set to suggest steps to revamp the NSA going forward, addressing the privacy concerns that have been raised by US citizens, activists, and technology companies, among other aggrieved players.
The report may have been released early in response to a contentious Tuesday meeting between the White House and America's largest technology companies, who are particularly concerned by the NSA revelations.
Obama will deliver his final thoughts on a revamp of the controversial agency by January, Carney said in his Dec 18th press briefing.
"[The president] is the instigator of the review board and the process it created.. He is extremely grateful…the president has been very proactive and aggressive in making sure that this internal review is being done," said Carney of the matter, according to the Guardian.