Snowden welcomes Obama's plans for NSA reform as 'turning point'
• President has confirmed the US plans to end bulk collection
• NSA whistleblower praises action by Congress as deal nears
Spencer Ackerman in Washington
theguardian.com, Tuesday 25 March 2014 17.14 EDT
Edward Snowden Meets With German Green Party MP Hans-Christian Stroebele
Snowden said the reforms would not have happened without the disclosures he precipitated. Photograph: Sunshine Press/Getty
The National Security Agency whistleblower, Edward Snowden, has welcomed plans by Barack Obama to end the practice of systematically storing Americans’ telephone data.
In a statement through the American Civil Liberties Union, Snowden said the plans outlined by Obama were a “turning point”.
Obama confirmed on Tuesday that the US plans to end the NSA’s bulk collection of Americans’ telephone records, admitting that trust in country’s intelligence services had been shaken and pledging to address the concerns of privacy advocates.
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