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Luminous Animal

(27,310 posts)
Sat Jul 20, 2013, 04:17 PM Jul 2013

'Prolific Partner': German Intelligence Used NSA Spy Program

Angela Merkel and her ministers claim they first learned about the US government's comprehensive spying programs from press reports. But SPIEGEL has learned that German intelligence services themselves use one of the NSA's most valuable tools.
Germany's foreign intelligence service, the BND, and its domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), used a spying program of the American National Security Agency (NSA). This is evident in secret documents from the US intelligence service that have been seen by SPIEGEL journalists. The documents show that the Office for the Protection of the Constitution was equipped with a program called XKeyScore intended to "expand their ability to support NSA as we jointly prosecute CT (counterterrorism) targets." The BND is tasked with instructing the domestic intelligence agency on how to use the program, the documents say.

....

This is relevant from a German perspective, because the documents show that of the up to 500 million data connections from Germany accessed monthly by the NSA, a major part is collected with XKeyScore (for instance, around 180 million in December 2012). The BND and BfV, when contacted by SPIEGEL, would not discuss the espionage tool. The NSA, as well, declined to comment, referring instead to the words of US President Barack Obama during his visit to Berlin and saying there was nothing to add.

'Eagerness and Desire'

Furthermore, the documents show that the cooperation of the German intelligence agencies with the NSA has recently intensified. Reference is made to the "eagerness and desire" of BND head Gerhard Schindler. "The BND has been working to influence the German government to relax interpretation of the privacy laws to provide greater opportunities of intelligence sharing," the NSA noted in January. Over the course of 2012, German partners had shown a "willingness to take risks and to pursue new opportunities for cooperation with the US."


http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/german-intelligence-agencies-used-nsa-spying-program-a-912173.html
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'Prolific Partner': German Intelligence Used NSA Spy Program (Original Post) Luminous Animal Jul 2013 OP
The world has changed, there is not two lines of foot soldiers facing each other as in days past. Thinkingabout Jul 2013 #1
Kick. Luminous Animal Jul 2013 #2

Thinkingabout

(30,058 posts)
1. The world has changed, there is not two lines of foot soldiers facing each other as in days past.
Sat Jul 20, 2013, 04:44 PM
Jul 2013

We will either keep up and try to stay in the lead with our technology or we will be riding camels in the desert and living in tents. I am amazed of the number of people who want "their privacy" who remain online for hours and then complain. It does not add up, if I was so concerned I would not be using a phone or using the internet. Collection of data will remain unless a newer method is developed, with ot without the approval of some people.

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