Obama to unveil NSA surveillance reforms

US President Barack Obama will unveil his proposals to reform the National Security Agency's surveillance programmes next week, the White House announced.

The White House said the president will make the announcement in a speech Jan 17, Xinhua reported Friday.

"He will be making remarks to discuss the outcomes of the work that has been done in the review process," White House spokesman Jay Carney said at the daily briefing.

"The president has been clear throughout this review process that we will not harm our national security or our ability to face global threats," said Carney.

He said the measures are to create more transparency and give American people more confidence.

The president has met with lawmakers, intelligence officials, executives of technology companies in recent weeks. He has also been reviewing the 46 recommendations submitted by a presidential advisory panel last month.

The panel called for "a series of significant reforms" to enhance transparency and privacy to the controversial NSA surveillance programmes, including tighter limits of the domestic telephone surveillance plans, said the panel's report released by the White House.

However, it is not clear whether those sweeping recommendations will be enacted.

The controversial surveillance programmes have made headlines and triggered outrage home and abroad since they were first disclosed in June by former defense contractor Edward Snowden.

The Obama administration has vowed to make some changes to the controversial surveillance programmes in an effort to rebuild public trust.