Obama speech embarrassing says Assange

At a major speech outlining revisions to U.S. intelligence operations, Barack Obama announced a number of new procedures for the NSA, including an end to the phone tapping of world allies.

WIKILEAKS founder Julian Assange has dismissed President Barack Obama's proposals to curb the reach of the National Security Agency (NSA), saying they would change very little.

In a speech intended to quell the furore over surveillance programs leaked by Edward Snowden, Obama said spy taps on friendly world leaders would be halted while foreigners caught in US data mining would be given new protections.

Obama, however, argued that bulk data collection must be allowed to continue in order to protect America from terrorists.

Assange described Obama's speech as "embarrassing'', telling CNN in an interview from London that the proposals would have little effect.

Obama had been "dragged, kicking and screaming'' into making Friday's comments, only because of revelations from Snowden and other intelligence leakers before him, Assange said on Friday.

President Barack Obama has ordered intelligence agencies to get a secretive court's permission before accessing phone records.Picture: AP

"It's embarrassing for a head of state to go on like that for 45 minutes and say almost nothing,'' Assange told CNN.

"He is being very reluctant to make any concrete reforms. And unfortunately today we also see very few concrete reforms.''

Assange was sceptical that a move obliging NSA agents to seek endorsement from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA), before accessing data on a specific target would be effective.

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Obama speech embarrassing says Assange