WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama will unveil new measures on Friday to increase transparency and build public trust in controversial government surveillance programs, a senior administration official said.
Obama is scheduled to give a press conference at 3:00 p.m. eastern time (1900 GMT) from the White House.
Civil liberty groups and some foreign governments have raised concerns since disclosures about the U.S. government’s secret surveillance of emails and telephone data, which emerged from information released by fugitive former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden.
Since the data-gathering programs were revealed in June, Obama has repeatedly said he would encourage a national conversation about balancing the need for U.S. surveillance with people’s rights to privacy.
Some lawmakers have vowed to push for legislation calling for more accountability for the programs.
Obama met with the CEOs of Apple Inc (AAPL.O), AT&T Inc (T.N) as well as other top technology and privacy representatives on Thursday to discuss government surveillance in the wake of revelations about the programs.
Google Inc (GOOG.O) computer scientist Vint Cerf and transparency advocates also participated in the meeting, along with Apple’s Tim Cook and AT&T’s Randall Stephenson, according to the White House.
“The meeting was part of the ongoing dialogue the president has called for on how to respect privacy while protecting national security in a digital era,” a White House official said.
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