Internet search engines Google and Yahoo have expressed dismay over reports the U.S. National Security Agency secretly broke into their communication networks.
In a statement issued Wednesday, Google said it is "outraged" at the lengths to which the U.S. government seems to have gone to intercept data from Google's private networks, and said these reports underscore the need for urgent reform. Both Google and Yahoo said they have not authorized the alleged tapping of their communication links.
The Washington Post said on Wednesday that it learned of the classified NSA program from documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden and from interviews with "knowledgeable officials."
The report said the NSA and its British counterpart, GCHQ, run a project called MUSCULAR, which taps into fiber-optic cables carrying data between the global facilities of Google and Yahoo. It said that allows the spying agencies to copy entire data flows, including the content of text, audio and video files.
NSA chief General Keith Alexander said Wednesday the spy agency does not enter Google and Yahoo servers. Speaking to reporters at a Washington conference, he said the NSA gains access to data by "court order."
The NSA already requests and obtains data from U.S. Internet companies such as Google and Yahoo by seeking court orders through a program called PRISM.
The Washington Post said infiltrating the companies' networks without a court order within the United States would be illegal, but the NSA has been able to tap into parts of those networks located overseas, where it faces less oversight and fewer restrictions.
The report said a top secret document dated January 9, 2013 shows the NSA collected 181 million data files from Google and Yahoo in the preceding 30 days and sent them to the agency's headquarters near Washington.
In a statement, the NSA rejected the suggestion in The Washington Post report that it has found a way to skirt U.S. laws. It said "the assertion that we collect vast quantities of U.S. persons' data from this type of collection is also not true."
The new allegations of NSA activity follow a series of recent media revelations regarding U.S. surveillance activities targeting international leaders and institutions.
Key German and U.S. national security officials met in Washington on Wednesday to discuss German concerns about alleged U.S. tapping of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's mobile phone.
The Obama administration said last week it is not listening in on Merkel's calls and will not do so in the future, but brushed off questions about whether it monitored her calls in the past, possibly as far back as 2002, three years before she became the German leader.
Chancellor Merkel voiced a personal protest about suspected U.S. surveillance of her mobile phone last week in a call to President Barack Obama. She said such snooping among friends cannot be condoned.
Now, Berlin wants the United States and France to agree to a "no spying" deal among the allies by the end of the year.
In a statement issued Wednesday, Google said it is "outraged" at the lengths to which the U.S. government seems to have gone to intercept data from Google's private networks, and said these reports underscore the need for urgent reform. Both Google and Yahoo said they have not authorized the alleged tapping of their communication links.
The Washington Post said on Wednesday that it learned of the classified NSA program from documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden and from interviews with "knowledgeable officials."
The report said the NSA and its British counterpart, GCHQ, run a project called MUSCULAR, which taps into fiber-optic cables carrying data between the global facilities of Google and Yahoo. It said that allows the spying agencies to copy entire data flows, including the content of text, audio and video files.
NSA chief General Keith Alexander said Wednesday the spy agency does not enter Google and Yahoo servers. Speaking to reporters at a Washington conference, he said the NSA gains access to data by "court order."
The NSA already requests and obtains data from U.S. Internet companies such as Google and Yahoo by seeking court orders through a program called PRISM.
The Washington Post said infiltrating the companies' networks without a court order within the United States would be illegal, but the NSA has been able to tap into parts of those networks located overseas, where it faces less oversight and fewer restrictions.
The report said a top secret document dated January 9, 2013 shows the NSA collected 181 million data files from Google and Yahoo in the preceding 30 days and sent them to the agency's headquarters near Washington.
In a statement, the NSA rejected the suggestion in The Washington Post report that it has found a way to skirt U.S. laws. It said "the assertion that we collect vast quantities of U.S. persons' data from this type of collection is also not true."
The new allegations of NSA activity follow a series of recent media revelations regarding U.S. surveillance activities targeting international leaders and institutions.
Key German and U.S. national security officials met in Washington on Wednesday to discuss German concerns about alleged U.S. tapping of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's mobile phone.
The Obama administration said last week it is not listening in on Merkel's calls and will not do so in the future, but brushed off questions about whether it monitored her calls in the past, possibly as far back as 2002, three years before she became the German leader.
Chancellor Merkel voiced a personal protest about suspected U.S. surveillance of her mobile phone last week in a call to President Barack Obama. She said such snooping among friends cannot be condoned.
Now, Berlin wants the United States and France to agree to a "no spying" deal among the allies by the end of the year.
