Privacy Rights: Obama's reversals on the NSA exposed

It has always been clear that Barack Obama's attitude to government surveillance has changed dramatically since he became president. But now a non-profit journalism organization has exposed how stark the reversals are. 

Power corrupts - it's not often that the old cliché gets a good illustration in the media. But New York-based non-profit newsroom ProPublica has gathered together the public record of how Barack Obama's position on surveillance has become dramatically more draconian since he became US president in 2009.

The organization, which focuses on investigative journalism "in the public interest," found that just five years ago, when he was still an Illinois senator, Obama backed a raft of legislation designed to restrict the power of the National Security Agency.

Five years later, and former NSA contractor Edward Snowden's revelations have completely altered the debate. The House of Representatives duly proposed an amendment that would have imposed similar limitations, only for Obama to condemn the ideas out of hand. It was a fairly obvious reversal, but the president challenged the question when he was asked at a press conference about the "evolution" of his position on the NSA programs. "I haven't evolved on my position on the actual programs," he claimed, before adding that since becoming president, he has evaluated government surveillance programs, brought more oversight, and now believes they are "worth preserving."

Read more: Obama's reversals on the NSA exposed | World | DW.DE | 13.08.2013