Story highlights Independent report recommends metadata collection should have more safeguards

President Barack Obama ordered review after Edward Snowden leaks

Report is part of overall review of U.S. intelligence gathering

Report recommends new limits on spying on foreigners and foreign leaders

An independent assessment of National Security Agency surveillance ordered by President Barack Obama recommends a controversial program aimed at collecting Americans' electronic communications remain in place.

But the effort predominantly covering so-called metadata relating to phone records and e-mail must have tighter constraints and greater transparency, according to the report released on Wednesday by the presidential Review Group on Intelligence.

Some 40 recommendations -- considered modest in scope -- were offered by the group on how the United States should continue collecting and storing data domestically and abroad.

Among them are calls for greater judicial oversight and more public transparency.

"Because our adversaries operate through the use of complex communications technologies, the National Security Agency, with its impressive capabilities and talented officers, is indispensable to keeping our country and our allies safe and secure," said the report's executive summary.

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Photos: Photos: NSA leaker Edward Snowden Photos: Photos: NSA leaker Edward Snowden NSA leaker Edward Snowden – National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden poses with German Green party parliamentarian Hans-Christian Stroebele in Moscow on October 31. Stroebele returned from the meeting with a letter from Snowden to German authorities, which was distributed to the media. In it, Snowden said he is confident that with international support, the United States would abandon its efforts to "treat dissent as defection" and "criminalize political speech with felony charges." Hide Caption 1 of 15 Photos: Photos: NSA leaker Edward Snowden NSA leaker Edward Snowden – Snowden's refugee document granted by Russia is seen during a news conference in Moscow on August 1. Snowden slipped quietly out of the airport after securing temporary asylum in Russia , ending more than a month in limbo. Hide Caption 2 of 15 Photos: Photos: NSA leaker Edward Snowden NSA leaker Edward Snowden – Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York, leaves a last-minute news conference at the U.S. Capitol after Russia announced that it would grant Snowden temporary asylum on August 1. "Russia has stabbed us in the back, and each day that Mr. Snowden is allowed to roam free is another twist of the knife," he said. Hide Caption 3 of 15 Photos: Photos: NSA leaker Edward Snowden NSA leaker Edward Snowden – Snowden's father, Lon Snowden, who has adamantly supported his son, talks to reporters in Washington on Tuesday, July 30. He has urged his son to remain in Russia "until we have assurances that he would receive a fair trial." Hide Caption 4 of 15 Photos: Photos: NSA leaker Edward Snowden NSA leaker Edward Snowden – Demonstrators in Berlin hold a protest march on Saturday, July 27, in support of Snowden and WikiLeaks document provider Bradley Manning. Both men have been portrayed as traitors and whistle-blowers. Manning was acquitted on July 30 on the most serious charge of aiding the enemy, but he was convicted on several other counts and likely faces a lengthy term in a military prison. Hide Caption 5 of 15 Photos: Photos: NSA leaker Edward Snowden NSA leaker Edward Snowden – Russian lawyer Anatoly Kucherena, center, speaks with journalists at the Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow after meeting with Snowden on Wednesday, July 24. Kucherena said he was in daily contact with Russian authorities about securing permission for Snowden to leave the airport. Hide Caption 6 of 15 Photos: Photos: NSA leaker Edward Snowden NSA leaker Edward Snowden – Snowden meets with human rights activists and lawyers on July 12 in a transit zone of the Russian airport. It was his first public appearance since he left Hong Kong on June 23. He announced that he was seeking refuge Russia while awaiting safe passage to Latin America, where he has been offered asylum. Hide Caption 7 of 15 Photos: Photos: NSA leaker Edward Snowden NSA leaker Edward Snowden – Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting in Prokhorovka on July 12. Russian officials said Snowden abandoned his effort to seek asylum in the country after Putin warned that he would have to stop leaking information about U.S. surveillance programs if he wanted to stay. Hide Caption 8 of 15 Photos: Photos: NSA leaker Edward Snowden NSA leaker Edward Snowden – A woman burns American flags during a protest in support of Bolivian President Evo Morales in front of the U.S. embassy in Mexico City on July 4. Leftist Latin American leaders and activists were fuming after some European nations temporarily refused Morales' plane access to their airspace amid suspicions Snowden was aboard. Hide Caption 9 of 15 Photos: Photos: NSA leaker Edward Snowden NSA leaker Edward Snowden – Bolivian President Evo Morales holds a news conference at the Vienna International Airport on July 3. He angrily denied any wrongdoing after his plane was diverted to Vienna and said that Bolivia is willing to give asylum to Snowden , as "fair protest" after four European countries restricted his plane from flying back from Moscow to La Paz. Hide Caption 10 of 15 Photos: Photos: NSA leaker Edward Snowden NSA leaker Edward Snowden – Umbrellas with slogans are lined up before a protest march to the U.S. consulate in Hong Kong on June 15. Snowden was hiding in Hong Kong, where he arrived on May 20 before blowing the lid off the NSA surveillance operation. Hide Caption 11 of 15 Photos: Photos: NSA leaker Edward Snowden NSA leaker Edward Snowden – Protesters in Hong Kong shout slogans in support of Snowden on June 13. The NSA leaker vowed to fight any bid to extradite him from Hong Kong. Hide Caption 12 of 15 Photos: Photos: NSA leaker Edward Snowden NSA leaker Edward Snowden – Graffiti sympathetic to Snowden is stenciled on the sidewalk in San Francisco on June 11. Hide Caption 13 of 15 Photos: Photos: NSA leaker Edward Snowden NSA leaker Edward Snowden – An American flag flutters in front of the U.S. consulate in Hong Kong on June 10. Hide Caption 14 of 15 Photos: Photos: NSA leaker Edward Snowden NSA leaker Edward Snowden – Snowden outs himself on June 9 in the British newspaper The Guardian, which published details of his revelations about the NSA electronic surveillance programs. "I have no intention of hiding who I am because I know I have done nothing wrong," he said in a video interview. Hide Caption 15 of 15

The panel was created amid a political firestorm that followed leaks last summer by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden

The disclosures triggered outrage among civil libertarians and many members of Congress, who considered the degree of data collection an overreach of post-9/11 anti-terror efforts.

Leaks about surveillance and a secret court that works with the NSA put enormous pressure on Obama, who came into office promising a more transparent government.

Key members of Congress are considering changes to programs under the Patriot Act law to restrict NSA snooping programs.

"The message is very clear," Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy said following the report's release. "NSA, you've gone too far."

Leahy mentioned the section in law allowing telephone data collection "was not essential to preventing attacks," according to the report.

Photos: Sharing secrets: U.S. intelligence leaks Photos: Sharing secrets: U.S. intelligence leaks Sharing secrets: U.S. intelligence leaks – John Walker ran a father and son spy ring, passing classified material to the Soviet Union from 1967 to 1985. Walker was a Navy communication specialist with financial difficulties when he walked into the Soviet Embassy and sold a piece of cyphering equipment. Navy and Defense officials said that Walker enabled the Soviet Union to unscramble military communications and pinpoint the location of U.S. submarines at all times. As part of his plea deal, prosecutors promised leniency for Walker's son Michael Walker, a former Navy seaman. Click through the gallery to see other high-profile leak scandals the United States has seen over the years. Hide Caption 1 of 10 Photos: Sharing secrets: U.S. intelligence leaks Sharing secrets: U.S. intelligence leaks – Military analyst Daniel Ellsberg leaked the 7,000-page Pentagon Papers in 1971. The top-secret documents revealed that senior American leaders, including three presidents, knew the Vietnam War was an unwinnable, tragic quagmire. Further, they showed that the government had lied to Congress and the public about the progress of the war. Ellsberg surrendered to authorities and was charged as a spy. During his trial, the court learned that President Richard Nixon's administration had embarked on a campaign to discredit Ellsberg, illegally wiretapping him and breaking into his psychiatrist's office. All charges against him were dropped. Since then he has lived a relatively quiet life as a respected author and lecturer. Hide Caption 2 of 10 Photos: Sharing secrets: U.S. intelligence leaks Sharing secrets: U.S. intelligence leaks – Jonathan Pollard is a divisive figure in U.S.-Israeli relations. The former U.S. Navy intelligence analyst was caught spying for Israel in 1985 and was sentenced in 1987 to life imprisonment. Previously, the United States and Israel discussed his possible release as part of efforts to save fragile Middle East peace negotiations, according to sources familiar with the talks. On July 28, 2015, Pollard's lawyer announced that the convicted spy had been granted parole and would be released on November 21 -- exactly 30 years after his arrest. Hide Caption 3 of 10 Photos: Sharing secrets: U.S. intelligence leaks Sharing secrets: U.S. intelligence leaks – Wen Ho Lee was a scientist at the Los Alamos Laboratory in New Mexico who was charged with 59 counts of downloading classified information onto computer tapes and passing it to China. Lee eventually agreed to plead guilty to a count of mishandling classified information after prosecutors deemed their case to be too weak. He was released after nine months in solitary confinement. Lee later received a $1.6 million in separate settlements with the government and five news agencies after he sued them, accusing the government of leaking damaging information about him to the media. Hide Caption 4 of 10 Photos: Sharing secrets: U.S. intelligence leaks Sharing secrets: U.S. intelligence leaks – Members of the Bush administration were accused retaliating against Valerie Plame, pictured, by blowing her cover in 2003 as a U.S. intelligence operative, after her husband, former Ambassador Joe Wilson, wrote a series of New York Times op-eds questioning the basis of certain facts the administration used to make the argument to go to war in Iraq. Hide Caption 5 of 10 Photos: Sharing secrets: U.S. intelligence leaks Sharing secrets: U.S. intelligence leaks – In 2007, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, was convicted on charges related to the leak of the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame. Libby was convicted of obstruction of justice and perjury in connection with the case. His 30-month sentence was commuted by President George W. Bush. Cheney told a special prosecutor in 2004 that he had no idea who leaked the information. Hide Caption 6 of 10 Photos: Sharing secrets: U.S. intelligence leaks Sharing secrets: U.S. intelligence leaks – Aldrich Ames, a 31-year CIA employee, pleaded guilty to espionage charges in 1994 and was sentenced to life in prison. Ames was a CIA case worker who specialized in Soviet intelligence services and had been passing classified information to the KGB since 1985. U.S. intelligence officials believe that information passed along by Ames led to the arrest and execution of Russian officials they had recruited to spy for them. Hide Caption 7 of 10 Photos: Sharing secrets: U.S. intelligence leaks Sharing secrets: U.S. intelligence leaks – Robert Hanssen pleaded guilty to espionage charges in 2001 in return for the government not seeking the death penalty. Hanssen began spying for the Soviet Union in 1979, three years after going to work for the FBI and prosecutors said he collected $1.4 million for the information he turned over to the Cold War enemy. In 1981, Hanssen's wife caught him with classified documents and convinced him to stop spying, but he started passing secrets to the Soviets again four years later. In 1991, he broke off relations with the KGB, but resumed his espionage career in 1999, this time with the Russian Intelligence Service. He was arrested after making a drop in a Virginia park in 2001. Hide Caption 8 of 10 Photos: Sharing secrets: U.S. intelligence leaks Sharing secrets: U.S. intelligence leaks – Army Pvt. Bradley Manning was convicted July 30 of stealing and disseminating 750,000 pages of classified documents and videos to WikiLeaks, and the counts against him included violations of the Espionage Act. He was found guilty of 20 of the 22 charges but acquitted of the most serious charge -- aiding the enemy. Manning was sentenced to 35 years in military prison in 2013. Hide Caption 9 of 10 Photos: Sharing secrets: U.S. intelligence leaks Sharing secrets: U.S. intelligence leaks – Former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden revealed himself as the leaker of details of U.S. government surveillance programs run by the U.S. National Security Agency to track cell phone calls and monitor the e-mail and Internet traffic of virtually all Americans. Snowden has been granted temporary asylum in Russia after initially fleeing to Hong Kong. He has been charged with three felony counts, including violations of the U.S. Espionage Act, over the leaks. Hide Caption 10 of 10

That directly contradicts national security officials, who have said the authority had helped thwart terror plots both in the United States and abroad.

"Just because we can collect massive amounts of data doesn't mean we should do so," Leahy said.

The review panel said that when government officials consider national security risks, they should also consider risks to privacy, freedom, civil liberties, relationships and trade with other nations.

It also recommended new limits on spying on foreigners and foreign leaders following controversy around disclosures of U.S. snooping on overseas presidents, like Germany's Angela Merkel.

The panel said intelligence officials should weigh if a foreign leader is believed to be duplicitous, if another country has a cooperative relationship with the United States and the political and diplomatic fallout if the leader became aware of such surveillance.

Heads of state in Brazil and Germany have been among those expressing recent outrage at alleged surveillance by the U.S. government in their countries.

The independent panel said spying on foreigners should only be conducted to protect national security and U.S. allies, not directed for economic issues such as trade secret theft.

Mike Morrell, the former acting CIA director and member of the panel, said the recommendations are not "in any way disarming" the intelligence community by removing tools needed to protect the United States.

Fellow panel member Richard Clarke, a former top counter-terrorism official in two administrations, said the recommendations also are not a signal that the fight against terrorism has ended.

Additionally, Obama will deliver a speech likely in January on the path forward following the report recommendations, which include presidential oversight of monitoring of foreign leaders and agreements with nations like France and Germany on what is acceptable and what is not.

Obama met on Wednesday with members of the review group to discuss their findings.

He has to decide which of the recommendations will be accepted, which could be revised and which will be rejected.

Obama vowed this month to find ways of reforming the NSA, though he also defended the agency's work.

Release of the findings came two days after a federal judge in Washington ruled preliminarily that NSA data collection of telephone metadata was probably unconstitutional on privacy grounds.

The group's other recommendations included:

-- Subjecting U.S. citizens and foreigners to the same privacy standards

-- Urging that the U.S. government support, and not undermine, encryption standards

-- Tightening classified information protection, including more monitoring and routine vetting of people who access classified information. And background investigations should be done by government employees or by a nonprofit private company, not for-profit firms criticized for not thoroughly vetting contractors hired by the NSA, like Snowden, the group advised.