Drip, Drip, Drip

The French government summoned the US ambassador in Paris on Monday to demand an urgent explanation over claims that the National Security Agency had engaged in widespread phone and internet surveillance of French citizens.

The French daily Le Monde published details from the NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden suggesting the US agency had been intercepting French phone traffic on what it termed "a massive scale".

Le Monde said more than 70m French phone calls had been recorded in one 30-day period late last year.

[...]

The claims were published as John Kerry, the US secretary of state, arrived in Paris for the start of a European tour to discuss the Middle East.

  Guardian

Nicely timed.

Caitlin Hayden, spokeswoman for the National Security Council at the White House, said: "We've begun to review the way that we gather intelligence, so that we properly balance the legitimate security concerns of our citizens and allies with the privacy concerns that all people share."

How nice of you.

President Obama spoke with French President Francois Hollande by phone on Monday just hours after a report revealed the National Security Agency has spied on France.

“The President and President Hollande discussed recent disclosures in the press — some of which have distorted our activities and some of which raise legitimate questions for our friends and allies about how these capabilities are employed,” the White House said in a statement.

  The Hill