John Kerry admits US surveillance on foreign govts has gone too far

Secretary of State John Kerry has admitted that some US data surveillance has gone 'too far.'

Kerry said that certain practices had occurred 'on autopilot' without the knowledge of senior officials in the Obama administration.

In the starkest 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, the Guardian reports.

In a conference in London via video link, Kerry said that President Barack Obama and he have learned of some things that have been happening in many ways on an automatic pilot, because the technology is there and the ability is there.

He said that in some cases, some of these actions have reached too far and the Obama administration is going to try to make sure it doesn't happen in the future.

According to the report, Kerry's comments are a reflection in particular of a concern about the diplomatic fallout from the revelation that the US monitored the cell phone of the German chancellor, Angela Merkel.

The director of the NSA, General Keith Alexander, has blamed US diplomats for requests to place foreign leaders under surveillance.