About: NSA
Whistleblowers are impossible without encryption, Edward Snowden says
On Global Encryption Day (21 October), Edward Snowden, the whistleblower behind the NSA surveillance revelations, defined encryption as a matter of life and death. A day earlier, a coalition of EU lawmakers voiced concerns that an upcoming legislative proposal could open the door to mass surveillance.
US security agency spied on Merkel, other top European officials through Danish cables
The US National Security Agency (NSA) has used a partnership with Denmark's foreign intelligence unit to spy on senior officials of neighbouring countries, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, according to Danish state broadcaster DR.
US spy chiefs break with Trump on threat assessment
China and Russia pose the biggest risks to the United States, and are more aligned than they have been in decades as they target the 2020 presidential election and American institutions to expand their global reach, US intelligence officials told...
US increasingly convinced Russia hacked French election
Hackers with connections to the Russian government played a role in an effort to damage centrist French politician Emmanuel Macron's presidential campaign by hacking and leaking emails and documents ahead of the election, according to two US intelligence officials.
Brazil unveils undersea cable link to Europe
Europe and Brazil will be linked by an undersea fibre optic cable by 2019. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said the link symbolises the ties between the two continents. EURACTIV Spain reports.
German prosecutors studying CIA leaks over report of hacking base in Frankfurt
Germany's chief federal prosecutor's office said yesterday (8 March) it would review new documents from anti-secrecy group Wikileaks that suggest the CIA ran a hacking hub from the US consulate in Frankfurt, and launch a formal investigation if warranted.
German spying on EU states to be made illegal
The German government has agreed that political espionage against EU countries and institutions by German intelligence services should be banned. EURACTIV Germany reports.
Irish court orders investigation of Facebook data transfers to US
Ireland's High Court on Tuesday (20 October) ordered an investigation into Facebook's transfer of European Union users' data to the United States, to make sure personal privacy was properly protected.
EU-US Safe Harbour and forced data localisation: lessons from Russia
Forced data localisation would undermine European fundamental rights as well as damaging the EU’s competitiveness, argues Matthias Bauer.
German intelligence service allegedly spied on US and European targets
The German intelligence service (BND) spied on other EU member states, as well as the US, according to media reports in the country. EURACTIV Germany reports.
Europe’s data authorities step into post-Safe Harbour spotlight
Data protection officials are assuming increasing prominence following Tuesday's (6 October) ECJ decision to outlaw Safe Harbour, which called them to take on a bigger role in Europe's privacy debacles.
US slams ECJ advisor’s Safe Harbour opinion
The US government has reacted sharply to the ECJ advocate general's recent opinion on the EU-US data sharing agreement Safe Harbour, criticising its “numerous inaccurate assertions about intelligence practices of the United States”.
EU legal advisor brands Safe Harbour data sharing with US illegal
An ECJ advocate general issued an opinion this morning (23 September) calling the EU-US Safe Harbour data sharing agreement legally invalid.
Parliament calls for stricter controls over surveillance tech exports
The European Parliament gave the green light on Tuesday (8 September) to a non-binding resolution calling for safeguards to ensure technology isn't implicated in human rights abuse, especially when it's exported outside of Europe for surveillance or censorship purposes. A European Commission proposal is expected next year.
Germany to set up ‘Bundescloud’
New German rules for government cloud computing means official data can only be processed in Germany. The restrictions are a strike against US-based cloud providers such as Amazon and Google.
Wikileaks: NSA spied on three French presidents
WikiLeaks said on Tuesday (23 June) that the National Security Agency spied on French presidents Jacques Chirac, Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande, citing secret intelligence reports.
Germany toughens up on data retention
German policymakers have moved to strengthen data retention laws, insisting that information will only be stored in Germany, and for much shorter periods, after the European Court of Justice struck down EU legislation that required data storage for longer periods.
German government denies deceit in NSA scandal
Chancellor Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert rejected accusations of a govenment cover-up in the mushrooming NSA scandal. EURACTIV Germany reports.
France plays down German spying accusations
Paris opted for discretion to try and deflect criticism from France's new Intelligence Bill, ahead of the law’s adoption in parliament on Tuesday (5 May). EURACTIV France reports.
BND spying affair divides German coalition
Angela Merkel defended cooperation between Germany’s intelligence service, the BND, and its US counterpart, the NSA, amid fresh accusations of illegal spying operations. EURACTIV Germany reports.
BND scandal: Bundestag committee issues ultimatum
The Bundestag's NSA investigation committee has demanded lists of search terms Germany's intelligence service, the BND, allegedly spied on for Washington.
German prosecutors launch investigation of spying charges
Germany's top public prosecutor will look into accusations that the country's BND foreign intelligence agency violated laws by helping the United States spy on officials and firms in Europe, including Airbus group, the federal prosecutors office said.
Juncker: ‘I don’t know if German agents are active here’
“One day I said at a College meeting that we should have a secret service, because agents are here,” European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker jokingly said, after allegations by the German press that Germany's national intelligence agency spied on top French officials and the EU's headquarters on behalf of US intelligence.