Remarks by the President on Review of Signals Intelligence
奥巴马总统关于重新审议信号情报问题的讲话
Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.
司法部，华盛顿哥伦比亚特区
January 17, 2014
2014年1月17日
Let me now turn to the separate set of concerns that have been raised overseas, and focus on America’s approach to intelligence collection abroad. As I’ve indicated, the United States has unique responsibilities when it comes to intelligence collection. Our capabilities help protect not only our nation, but our friends and our allies, as well. But our efforts will only be effective if ordinary citizens in other countries have confidence that the United States respects their privacy, too. And the leaders of our close friends and allies deserve to know that if I want to know what they think about an issue, I’ll pick up the phone and call them, rather than turning to surveillance. In other words, just as we balance security and privacy at home, our global leadership demands that we balance our security requirements against our need to maintain the trust and cooperation among people and leaders around the world.
现在请允许我谈谈已在海外引起关注的另外一些问题，重点是美国在海外收集情报的做法。我已经谈到，在收集情报的问题上，美国肩负着独特的责任。我们具备的能力不仅可以保护我国，而且也保护我们的友邦和我们的盟国。但是，只有在其他国家的普通公民信任美国也尊重他们的隐私的情况下，我们的努力才能有效。需要让与我国关系密切的友邦和盟国的领导人知道，如果我希望了解他们对某一个问题的想法，我会拿起电话与他们通话，不可能采取监视的方法。换言之，在我们兼顾国内的安全与隐私之际，我们在全球发挥的领导作用要求我们兼顾我们的安全需要和我们维持与全世界各地人民和领导人互信与合作的需要。
For that reason, the new presidential directive that I’ve issued today will clearly prescribe what we do, and do not do, when it comes to our overseas surveillance. To begin with, the directive makes clear that the United States only uses signals intelligence for legitimate national security purposes, and not for the purpose of indiscriminately reviewing the emails or phone calls of ordinary folks. I’ve also made it clear that the United States does not collect intelligence to suppress criticism or dissent, nor do we collect intelligence to disadvantage people on the basis of their ethnicity, or race, or gender, or sexual orientation, or religious beliefs. We do not collect intelligence to provide a competitive advantage to U.S. companies or U.S. commercial sectors.
为此，我今天发布新的总统指令，明确指出我们在进行海外监视的时候，我们会做些什么，不会做什么。首先，这项指令明确指出，美国仅为合法的国家安全目的使用信号情报，不是为了不分青红皂白地审查普通百姓的电子邮件或电话通话。我还明确表示，美国不会为了压制批评或不同意见收集情报，我们也不会因人们的族裔、种族、性别、性取向和宗教信仰而搜集情报，置他们于不利的处境。我们不会为美国公司或美国商业部门获得竞争优势收集情报。
And in terms of our bulk collection of signals intelligence, U.S. intelligence agencies will only use such data to meet specific security requirements: counterintelligence,counterterrorism, counter-proliferation, cybersecurity, force protection for our troops and our allies, and combating transnational crime, including sanctions evasion.
在整体收集信号情报方面，美国情报机构将只采用符合具体安全之需的资料：反情报、反恐怖主义 、反扩散、网际安全、保护我军部队和盟友以及打击跨国犯罪，其中包括打击逃避制裁。
In this directive, I have taken the uNPRecedented step of extending certain protections that we have for the American people to people overseas. I’ve directed the DNI, in consultation with the Attorney General, to develop these safeguards, which will limit the duration that we can hold personal information, while also restricting the use of this information.
在本指令中，我采取了一些前所未有的步骤，扩大对美国人民和海外人民的保护。我已指示国家情报主任，通过与司法部长协商，制定出这些防范措施，从而在对使用信息加以限制的同时，缩短对个人信息的保存时间。
The bottom line is that people around the world, regardless of their nationality, should know that the United States is not spying on ordinary people who don’t threaten our national security, and that we take their privacy concerns into account in our policies and procedures. This applies to foreign leaders as well. Given the understandable attention that this issue has received, I have made clear to the intelligence community that unless there is a compelling national security purpose, we will not monitor the communications of heads of state and government of our close friends and allies. And I’ve instructed my national security team, as well as the intelligence community, to work with foreign counterparts to deepen our coordination and cooperation in ways that rebuild trust going forward.
最根本的一点是，世界各地的人，无论是哪一国籍，都应知道，美国不监视对我们国家安全没有构成威胁的普通民众，而且我们把他们的隐私需要纳入我们的政策和程序中。这一点同样适用于外国领导人。鉴于这个问题引发的可以理解的关注，我已明确告知情报部门，除非出于绝对必须的国家安全目的，我们不监视国家首脑和我们亲密友邦及盟国政府的通讯往来。我已指示我的国家安全班子以及情报部门与海外同行合作，通过能够重建未来信任的方式深化我们的协调与合作。
Now let me be clear: Our intelligence agencies will continue to gather information about the intentions of governments -- as opposed to ordinary citizens -- around the world, in the same way that the intelligence services of every other nation does. We will not apologize simply because our services may be more effective. But heads of state and government with whom we work closely, and on whose cooperation we depend, should feel confident that we are treating them as real partners. And the changes I’ve ordered do just that.
现在请让我说明：我们的情报机构将继续在世界各地收集有关各国政府——而不是普通公民——的意图的信息，其方式与其他任何一个国家的情报机构所采用的方式相同。我们不会仅仅因为我们的工作可能更具效力而表示歉意。但是，我们与之密切合作并有赖于其配合的政府和国家的首脑应当感到放心，我们将他们作为真正的合作伙伴来对待。而且我指令进行的改革正是要做到这一点。
Finally, to make sure that we follow through on all these reforms, I am making some important changes to how our government is organized. The State Department will designate a senior officer to coordinate our diplomacy on issues related to technology and signals intelligence. We will appoint a senior official at the White House to implement the new privacy safeguards that I have announced today. I will devote the resources to centralize and improve the process we use to handle foreign requests for legal assistance, keeping our high standards for privacy while helping foreign partners fight crime and terrorism.
最后，为确保我们贯彻所有这些改革，我将对我国政府的组织形式做出一些重要的改变。国务院将指定一名高级别官员，负责协调我们在与技术及信号情报有关的问题上的外交工作。我们将在白宫任命一名高级别官员，负责实施我今天宣布的新的隐私保障措施。我将投入资源用于统揽及改善我们用来处理外国提出的法律协助要求的程序，以便在帮助外国合作伙伴抗击犯罪和恐怖主义的同时保持我们有关隐私的高标准。
