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August 27, 2013

'IC on the Record' Promises Transparency on Lawful Foreign Surveillance Activities

By Ashok Bindra, TMCnet Contributor

With the activities of the U.S. National Security Agency (News - Alert) (NSA) under scrutiny, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence is promising more transparency on lawful foreign surveillance activities carried out by the US agencies. Consequently, last Wednesday, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence started a Tumblr blog called IC on the Record. To provide more transparency on the lawful surveillance, the site will host official statements, declassified documents, speeches, interviews, fact sheets and videos among other content.



The Guardian reports that the “IC on the Record” site was created in response to President Obama’s move to both defend the country’s intelligence-gathering practices and to create a hub for further transparency. The Office represents 17 different intelligence agencies, including the NSA, the CIA, the FBI and military intelligence units.

The report indicates that the Tumblr blog plans were revealed in early August by the President as part of the promise for more transparency on the activities of the U.S. intelligence community in the wake of recent revelations about the NSA and its PRISM program of electronic surveillance.

Speaking to the journalists, Obama said, "The intelligence community is creating a website that will serve as a hub for further transparency, and this will give Americans and the world the ability to learn more about what our intelligence community does and what it doesn't do, how it carries out its mission, and why it does so.”

As per this report, the IC on the Record site was launched with a post by U.S. director of national intelligence James Clapper, who has been recently criticized for misleading a Senate hearing by denying that the NSA collects information about US citizens.

Clapper wrote, "The goal of IC on the Record is to provide the public with direct access to factual information related to the lawful foreign surveillance activities carried out by the intelligence community." The site will address methods of collection, use of collected data, and oversight and compliance, added Clapper.




Edited by Alisen Downey
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