John Kerry on NSA spying: ‘Some of these actions have reached too far’

[unhappycamper]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/10/31/john-kerry-on-nsa-spying-some-of-these-actions-have-reached-too-far/



Kerry says certain practices occurred ‘on autopilot’ and vows to meet allies to repair damage caused by NSA spying revelations

John Kerry on NSA spying: ‘Some of these actions have reached too far’
By Dan Roberts, The Guardian
Thursday, October 31, 2013 19:25 EDT

John Kerry, the U.S. secretary of state, conceded on Thursday that some of the country’s surveillance activities had gone too far, saying that certain practices had occurred “on autopilot” without the knowledge of senior officials in the Obama administration.

In the most stark comments yet by a senior administration official, Kerry promised that a previously announced review of surveillance practices would be thorough and that some activities would end altogether.

~snip~

In a separate development on Thursday, a group of technology giants called for substantial reforms to the US government’s surveillance programmes. The companies were furious about revelations this week – the latest to emerge from documents leaked by the former NSA contractor Edward Snowden – that the agency had intercepted the cables that link the worldwide data centres belonging to Google and Yahoo.

“Recent disclosures regarding surveillance activity raise important concerns both in the United States and abroad,” said the letter to the Senate judiciary committee, signed by Google, Apple, Facebook, Yahoo, AOL and Microsoft.
The companies said they supported the USA Freedom Act and added: “We urge the administration to work with Congress in addressing these critical reforms that would provide much needed transparency and help rebuild the trust of internet users around the world.”

[scottx2]

1. Bit of an understatement - eh

Spying on the world went a bit too far. Huh.