NSA

The National Security Agency monitored the phone conversations of 35 world leaders after being given the numbers by an official in another US government department, according to a classified document provided by whistleblower Edward Snowden. The confidential memo reveals that the NSA encourages senior officials in its “customer” departments, such the White House, State and Continue Reading →

Touting its commitment to user privacy in the wake of the NSA surveillance scandal earlier this year, Apple said that the end-to-end encryption protecting its iMessage instant-messenger service is so secure that even the company itself cannot decrypt it. But, on Thursday, security outfit QuarksLab disputed that claim, arguing that Apple could intercept iMessage communications Continue Reading →

The National Security Agency is harvesting hundreds of millions of contact lists from personal e-mail and instant messaging accounts around the world, many of them belonging to Americans, according to senior intelligence officials and top-secret documents provided by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. The collection program, which has not been disclosed before, intercepts e-mail address Continue Reading →

Americans are concerned about internet privacy, but they’re far less worried about government snooping than they are about their online activity being monitored by hackers and advertisers. That’s according to a survey of 792 internet and smartphone users in the US by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, conducted in July. 86% of respondents Continue Reading →

Microsoft and Google are to sue the US government to win the right to reveal more information about official requests for user data. The companies announced the lawsuit on Friday, escalating a legal battle over the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (Fisa), the mechanism used by the National Security Agency (NSA) and other US government agencies Continue Reading →

For at least six years, law enforcement officials working on a counternarcotics program have had routine access, using subpoenas, to an enormous AT&T database that contains the records of decades of Americans’ phone calls — parallel to but covering a far longer time than the National Security Agency’s hotly disputed collection of phone call logs. Continue Reading →

The NSA bugged offices in the UN’s New York headquarters as part of a comprehensive surveillance program, says Der Spiegel. According to files leaked by Edward Snowden, the agency has bugged more than 80 embassies and consulates under a program called the “Special Collection Service.” The program is “intensive and well organized and has little Continue Reading →

The National Security Agency paid millions of dollars to cover the costs of major internet companies involved in the Prism surveillance program after a court ruled that some of the agency’s activities were unconstitutional, according to top-secret material passed to the Guardian. The technology companies, which the NSA says includes Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and Facebook, Continue Reading →

Earlier this month, President Obama admitted that the US has “significant capabilities” for surveillance, but also that it shows restraint. Since whistleblower Edward Snowden first revealed the extent of the country’s spying efforts, the Obama administration has repeatedly insisted that the programs are narrowly targeted towards the communications of foreign individuals, that the actual contents Continue Reading →

At a news conference on Friday, President Obama said he was making plans to improve government oversight of surveillance programs in an effort to ensure the protection of civil rights and restore the public’s trust in the government. “Given the history of abuse by governments, it’s right to ask questions about surveillance, particularly as technology Continue Reading →