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                       Changes in Collecting 'Metadata' S

   President Obama is ordering changes in the NSA`s broad program of
   collecting "metadata," such as the connection times, duration and
   destination of telephone calls and text messages, in such a way that
   intelligence agencies` ability to fight terror will not be diminished.
   Mr. Obama said experts who have reviewed U.S. intelligence programs
   recommended that detailed records be retained by telephone-service
   providers, or possibly by some other third party, but that such bulk
   records pose difficult privacy problems.
   Therefore, the president said, he has ordered a transition away from
   the existing program, in two steps.
   Effective immediately, he told Americans, U.S. intelligence communities
   will only pursue phone calls that are "two steps removed" from a number
   associated with a terrorist organization, instead of three.
   He has also instructed the intelligence community and the attorney
   general to use this transition period to develop options for a new
   approach to match the capabilities and fill the gaps that the bulk
   metadata program was designed to address, without the government
   retaining all this information.
   The president set a March 28 deadline for a summary of these options.
   Such reforms, he said, should give Americans more confidence that their
   rights are being protected, without reducing the government`s ability
   to gather intelligence.
   ( LAST TAKE COMING)
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/changes-in-collecting-metadata-s/1832
   346.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/changes-in-collecting-metadata-s/1832346.html