US President Barack Obama speaks about the National Security Agency (NSA) and intelligence agencies surveillance techniques at the US Department of Justice in Washington, DC, January 17, 2014. Obama trimmed the powers of the secretive US eavesdropping agency Friday by calling for new privacy safeguards, but allowed bulk phone data sweeps to continue as an anti-terror tool. In a long-awaited speech outlining changes to programs exposed by Edward Snowden, Obama also said he had halted National Security Agency (NSA) spy taps targeting friendly world leaders. AFP PHOTO / Saul LOEB