“BND,
Germany’s foreign intelligence service, used a loophole in the law
to snoop on the country’s citizens living abroad from 2000 to 2005,
the former agency’s lawyer told German MPs.”
“Usually,
there is law 'G10' which specifies high legal hurdles to cover before
spying on German citizens, including when they live abroad. If these
requirements aren’t met, then the data on them should be filtered
from foreign communications received by BND. However, Dr. Stefan
Burbaum told parliament about a loophole: a person was named 'office
holder' if targeted.”
“BND
also breached 'G10' legislation regarding telecom traffic, retaining
some content the service hadn’t been authorized to check. So the
law was turned into a 'foot in the door' for some data they wouldn’t
have been able to get otherwise, Burbaum said.”
“The
revelation comes shortly after the German government signed a
'no-spying contract' with Canadian smartphone company Blackberry.
Under the agreement, German authorities are to audit Blackberry
software. The company also has to reveal if they provide users’
information to foreign intelligence.”
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