In an effort to convince skeptical Americans that the U.S. government has not transformed into Big Brother and taken away all privacy President Barack Obama is meeting with a privacy oversight board on Friday, according to Reuters.
The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, which has been mostly dormant since 2008, is an independent agency that reviews steps the government takes in the name of national security and makes sure that the privacy and civil liberties of citizens aren't violated by them. The five-person agency is headed by David Medine and held their first meeting on Wednesday, according to Reuters.
"The president looks forward to...discussing recent developments, to include the disclosure of classified information," a senior administration official told ABC News.
Since the surveillance programs of the National Security Agency were revealed by documents leaked by Edward Snowden the Obama administration has been scrambling to defend the actions taken by the NSA as necessary to fight terrorism. NSA Chief Keith Alexander and outgoing Federal Bureau of Investigation deputy director Sean Joyce have defended the programs to Congress saying that they are responsible for stopping at least 50 potential attacks and that the information gathered does not violate privacy laws.
In addition to meeting with the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board President Obama has asked the director of national intelligence, James Clapper, about the potential of releasing more information detailing the government's surveillance program. Specifically Obama wants to have Clapper declassify transcripts from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court; the court gave the NSA the authority to build the data-mining program, according to the Associated Press.
Medine told Reuters that the next step the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board was planning on taking after the meeting with the president was to schedule a public event around July 9 to get insight from other experts.
"Based on what we've learned so far, the board believes further questions are warranted," Medine told Reuters.
Since the existence of the program was leaked to the public the Obama administration has strongly defended it as a necessary tool to fight terrorism. A statement by the White House echoed that defense by suggesting that if the public knew more they would understand that the surveillance is not a violation of civil liberties.
"The president's direction is that as much information as possible be made public while being mindful of the need to protect sources and methods and national security," the statement read.
