WASHINGTON – University of Chicago First Amendment scholar Geoffrey Stone was not expecting unanimity among the group of five experts called together by President Barack Obama to review the National Security Agency’s collection of vast amounts of phone records and other digital information of millions of Americans.
Stone said the fact that the group could present recommendations fully supported by all members gave extra weight to their report. The review group recommended that that phone companies or a private third party maintain the data needed by the NSA rather than the NSA itself and that access be allowed only by a court order.
In a video interview with Medill National Security Zone, Stone detailed key points from the recommendations.