President Obama met with technology company executives critical of his administration's surveillance program a day after a federal district judge ruled that portions of the National Security Agency program could be unconstitutional (see Judge Rules Against NSA Collection Program).

Gathering in the White House's Roosevelt Room on Dec. 17, the group addressed a letter eight of the companies sent the president on Dec. 9 that urged him to reform laws and government practices (see Online Firms Blast NSA's Tactics).

Attending the White House meeting were leaders from Apple, AT&T, Comcast, Dropbox, Etsy, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Netflix, Salesforce, Sherpa Global, Twitter, Yahoo and Zynga.

Surveillance Reform Urged

Neither the administration nor the executives from the companies provided specific details on the meeting. The executives issued a joint statement after the session that reads: "We appreciated the opportunity to share directly with the president our principles on government surveillance that we released last week, and we urge him to move aggressively on reform."

A White House statement also furnished scant details about specifics addressed during the two-hour session.

"The group discussed the national security and economic impacts of unauthorized intelligence disclosures," the White House says. "This was an opportunity for the president to hear from CEOs directly as we near completion of our review of signals intelligence programs, building on the feedback we've received from the private sector in recent weeks and months.

"The president made clear his belief in an open, free, and innovative Internet and listened to the group's concerns and recommendations, and made clear that we will consider their input as well as the input of other outside stakeholders as we finalize our review of signals intelligence programs."

New HealthCare.gov Adviser

The White House also says the president and Vice President Joe Biden discussed with the executives the improved performance of HealthCare.gov, the website for the Affordable Care Act, more commonly known as Obamacare, that's been criticized for potential security shortcomings (see HealthCare.gov: How Secure Is It Now?).

At the meeting, Obama announced that Kurt DelBene, who most recently served as president of Microsoft's Office Division, on Dec. 18 will succeed Jeff Zients as senior adviser to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, focusing on improving HealthCare.gov and the health insurance marketplace.

Judge's NSA Ruling

On Dec. 16, Federal District Judge Richard Leon ruled that an NSA program collecting metadata from telephone calls could be unconstitutional, adding to the furor over the way the spy agency collects data on Americans. Leon's ruling, which was stayed to allow the government to appeal his decision, followed by a week the letter sent by the executives who contend the surveillance program undermines efforts the companies take to protect the privacy of their customers.

The administration's headaches over the surveillance program are a result of leaks of secret NSA documents by former agency contractor Edward Snowden. Richard Ledgett, the senior NSA official investigating the leaks, suggested in a weekend interview that Snowden be pardoned if he turns over all of the remaining documents he acquired without authorization. But the White House rejected that idea.

"Mr. Snowden is accused of leaking classified information and faces felony charges here in the United States," White House spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden says. "He should be returned to the U.S. as soon as possible, where he will be accorded full due process and protections."

The White House also rejected the idea of doing away with having the NSA director also head the military's Cyber Command. Gen. Keith Alexander, the current NSA director who will soon retire, was given the additional role as commander of the Cyber Command when that organization was created in 2009 (see First Military Cyber Commander Confirmed).