Obama reassures Europeans over US surveillance

Obama reassures Europeans over US surveillance

STOCKHOLM (AP) - President Barack Obama sought today to reassure Europeans outraged over U.S. surveillance programs that his government isn’t sifting through their emails or eavesdropping on their telephone calls. He acknowledged that the programs haven’t always worked as intended, saying “we had to tighten them up.” Obama said once-secret U.S. surveillance programs that became public knowledge after a government contractor leaked details about them are meant to improve America’s understanding of what is happening around the world. He sought to allay the concerns of Europeans upset by the thought that their personal communications may have been swept up in the U.S. government’s massive data collection operations.