On Saturday, the Guardian reported from a secret directive that US President Barack Obama has ordered his senior national security and intelligence officials to draw up a list of potential overseas targets for US cyber attacks.
"With respect to the internet and emails, this does not apply to US citizens, and it does not apply to people living in the United States,” Obama said on Friday.
His comments follow news that the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are tapping directly into the central servers of nine leading US internet companies to spy on foreigners.
According to the Washington Post newspaper, even though US citizens were not the intended targets of surveillance, this has allowed investigators to examine emails, photos and other documents of tens of millions of Americans that can be used to track people and their contacts over time.We ask under what authority the US monitors the world's phone calls and internet usage.