New Reforms to Foreign Signals Intelligence Activities

On January 17, 2014, President Obama announced a series of reforms to United States foreign signals intelligence activities, in light of the review and recommendations provided last month by the President's Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technologies. Overall, these reforms seek to balance security and privacy by increasing the limits and oversight on surveillance activities. In addition, the President's reforms propose to increase transparency by releasing more information regarding these activities. Finally, the President's reforms represent a significant policy shift with respect to the privacy interests of non-U.S. persons, expanding to foreign persons certain protections for the retention and dissemination of their personal information.