President Barack Obama on Friday laid out a vision of modest changes for the National Security Agency in a speech that will likely please neither reformers nor agency defenders.

The speech, which took place in the Great Hall of the Justice Department building, came more than seven months after the leaks from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden began. Acknowledging the public clamor those leaks have generated, the president nonetheless defended many of the agency's most controversial programs as necessary in the fight against terrorism. "The task before us now is greater than simply repairing the damage done to our operations; or preventing more disclosures from taking place in the future."

As pretty much everyone has been sending over, a bunch of former NSA and intelligence community insiders who later went on to become whistleblowers (many of whom were then attacked or even prosecuted for their whistleblowing) have written quite an astounding open letter to President Obama, requesting that he allow them to brief him on the problems of the NSA.

The letter goes a bit overboard on the rhetoric (which actually pulls away from its important underlying message, unfortunately), but the key points are clear. From what they've seen, they know that not only have the NSA's efforts violated the 4th Amendment and been ineffective, they have actually made it more difficult for the NSA to do its job properly.

Republican senator Rand Paul has announced plans to sue US President Barack Obama over Edward Snowden's revelations of unlawful spying by the National Security Agency (NSA).

Paul said he is urging all US citizens with mobile phones to join a group action aimed at preventing Obama from "snooping on the American people". Paul said the legal action is also aimed at protecting the Fourth Amendment to the US constitution, which prevents unreasonable searches and seizures, and sending a message to the US government that it cannot continue to access ordinary citizens' phone and email records without permission or a warrant.

The US National Security Agency has collected sensitive data on key telecommunications cables between Europe, north Africa and Asia, German news magazine Der Spiegel reported Sunday citing classified documents. Spiegel quoted NSA papers dating from February and labelled "top secret" and "not for foreigners" describing the agency's success in spying on the so-called Sea-Me-We 4 undersea cable system.

The massive bundle of fibre optic cables originates near the southern French city of Marseille and links Europe with north Africa and the Gulf states, continuing through Pakistan and India to Malaysia and Thailand. 

In his first television appearance since claiming asylum in Russia, Snowden -- who caused shockwaves around the world by revealing mass US electronic surveillance programmes -- will give a staunch defence of privacy in the short pre-recorded broadcast.

"Together we can find a better balance, end mass surveillance and remind the government that if it really wants to know how we feel asking is always cheaper than spying," he says.

Citing the classic dystopian novel "Nineteen Eighty-Four", he adds: "Great Britain's George Orwell warned us of the danger of this kind of information.

The U.S. government claims that a public hearing on wiretapping is not possible, as this will damage the country's security, because the materials of the case still remain classified.

According to the Government, despite the fact that the whistleblower Edward Snowden opened the world have sufficient secrets when discussing details may emerge new details. For example, many are now wondering whether engaged in collecting intelligence data itself or telecommunications companies such as AT & T and Verizon, helped her in this. In considering the claims in court for the first time the government has acknowledged that the NSA wiretapping of telephone conversations engaged and media monitoring. 

A panel appointed by President Barack Obama has recommended significant changes to controversial surveillance programs run by the National Security Agency (NSA) that were disclosed by Edward Snowden.

The President’s Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technologies report calls on Obama to end the NSA’s collection of a massive database of telephone metadata and to enact new restrictions on the use of private data held by communications and technology companies. The more than 300-page report includes 46 specific recommendations to the President, and follows on months of slow leaks from a treasure trove of documents taken from the NSA by Snowden that have caused an uproar both in the U.S. and around the world.

Former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden stole vastly more information than previously speculated, and is holding it at ransom for his own protection.

“What’s floating is so dangerous, we’d be behind for twenty years in terms of access (if it were to be leaked),” a ranking Department of Defense official told the Daily Caller. “He stole everything — literally everything,” the official said. Last month British and U.S. intelligence officials speculated Snowden had in his possession a “doomsday cache” of intelligence information, including the names of undercover intelligence personnel stationed around the world. 

Today published an open letter signed by the heads of leading IT-companies in the U.S., addressed to President Barack Obama and members of Congress. In his message to industry leaders need to review legislation on surveillance to action intelligence services do not undermine people's confidence in the new technology.

"We understand that the obligation of governments - to protect citizens. But the revelations made by this summer, emphasized the urgent need to reform the surveillance programs conducted by states around the world, "- said in an open letter, which was signed by the heads of AOL, Apple, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Twitter, Yahoo. Executives fear that the surveillance program will undermine user confidence in information technology.

President Barack Obama was told about monitoring of German Chancellor in 2010 and allowed it to continue, says German newspaper. President Barack Obama was dragged into the trans-Atlantic spying row after it was claimed he personally authorised the monitoring of Angela Merkel’s phone three years ago.

The president allegedly allowed US intelligence to listen to calls from the German Chancellor’s mobile phone after he was briefed on the operation by Keith Alexander, director of the National Security Agency, in 2010.