Obama NSA Reforms Must Be 'Beginning Not End': ACLU

As a major critic of the Obama administration over the NSA’s bulk surveillance programs, the ACLU responded to the president’s Thursday announcement regarding reforms to mass collection of telephone records by saying it was a welcome first step, but that much more would be needed before they and other rights groups would be satisfied.

“The president’s plan is a major step in the right direction and a victory for privacy. But this must be the beginning of surveillance reform, not the end,” said Anthony D. Romero, the ACLU’s executive director.

Though the policy shift at the White House had been signaled earlier in the week, Obama himself stated on Thursday: “I have decided that the best path forward is that the government should not collect or hold this data in bulk,” referring specifically to millions of private call records that reporting based on documents by Edward Snowden revealed the NSA have been collecting en masse for years.

“Instead,” the president continued, “the data should remain at the telephone companies for the length of time it currently does today.”

According to Romero, however, much more must be known about the White House plan before celebrations can occur.

“Today’s announcement leaves in place other surveillance programs with equally troubling implications for civil liberties,” he said. “Comprehensive reform should begin with passage of the USA FREEDOM Act, a bill that safeguards privacy while also ensuring that the government has the tools it needs to investigate real threats. We must restore the proper balance between security and our constitutional rights.”