Yahoo Secretly Scanned Customer Emails For The NSA

Rights groups said the news proves “the failure of U.S. government reforms to curb NSA’s tendency to try and indiscriminately vacuum up the world’s data.”

Lauren McCauley
Deirdre Fulton
By Lauren McCauley
And Deirdre Fulton
Yahoo's headquarters in Sunnyvale, Calif.

In an astounding and "unprecedented" new account of U.S. government surveillance, Reuters reported Tuesday that Yahoo secretly scanned all of its customer's incoming emails for a specific set of characters, per request of the National Security Agency (NSA) or FBI. The news agency broke the investigation after speaking with "two former employees

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Yahoo! Warns Users Of FBI’s Malicious Tactics To Obtain Persona Data

“We believe this is an important step toward enriching a more open and transparent discussion about the legal authorities law enforcement can leverage to access user data,” Yahoo! stated.

Claire Bernish
By Claire Bernish
A man holds up his phone during a rally in support of data privacy outside the Apple store Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2016, in San Francisco. Protesters assembled in more than 30 cities to lash out at the FBI for obtaining a court order that requires Apple to make it easier to unlock an encrypted iPhone used by a gunman in December's mass murders in California. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

For the first time since the implementation of the USA Freedom Act, Yahoo! published three National Security Letters — perhaps the most secretive and contentious method the FBI has for obtaining information on individuals — after the lifting of repressive and equally-contentious gag orders. Mainstays of the USA PATRIOT Act, National Security

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How US Govt Bullied Yahoo! over NSA Access To User Data

The case is significant because it sheds light on the controversial level of complicity between the nation’s largest internet companies and the NSA regarding the agency’s mass surveillance practices.

Jon Queally
By Jon Queally

As the internet giant Yahoo! attempted to refuse compliance with requests by the NSA to access the online data for millions of the company's users, the U.S. Justice Department threatened to fine the company a staggering $250,000 a day, according to new reporting based on previously secret court documents released on Thursday. In a case that

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Govt Spies Hacked Into Live Webcam Chats Of Millions

The British GCHQ spy agency—with possible assistance from its U.S. counterpart—built and maintained a program that allowed it to tap the live webcam chats of millions of internet users with no connection to criminal or national security investigations.

Jon Queally
By Jon Queally
GCHQ

The latest documents leaked to journalists by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden and published Thursday in the Guardian newspaper reveal that the British GCHQ spy agency—with possible assistance from its U.S. counterpart—built and maintained a program that allowed it to tap the live webcam chats of millions of internet users with no connection to

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Tech Firms Vie To Protect Personal Data But Gain Profits

Tech. companies are making a huge profit by mining personal data and peering into people’s online habits but are now becoming more aggressive in their attempts to counter any perception that they voluntarily give the government access to users’ email.

Associated Press
By Associated Press
GOOGLE PRIVACY

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Even as Silicon Valley speaks out against the U.S. government's surveillance methods, technology companies are turning a handsome profit by mining personal data and peering into people's online habits. The industry's profit machine has become tarnished by revelations that the National Security Agency trolls deep into the

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‘I Hope You Publish This’: NSA Broke Into Google And Yahoo Data Centers

‘The NSA does not keep everything it collects, but it keeps a lot,’ reports the Washington Post.

John Queally
By John Queally

Without their knowledge or permission, the National Security Agency has broken into the global data centers of Yahoo! and Google, the Washington Post is reporting on Wednesday. In a report that terms the specific NSA surveillance program as "unusually aggressive," the newspaper claims that leaked documents provided by whistleblower Edward

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