Tech

Yahoo scans users’ emails for US spy agencies, reports say

Published

8 years ago

October 6, 2016

Yahoo scans users' emails for US spy agencies, reports say

Yahoo Inc. reportedly spied on millions of users of its popular webmail service, scanning users’ incoming emails at the behest of United States intelligence agencies.

According to the report, Yahoo scanned all messages arriving via Yahoo Mail for any that contained particular sets of characters or search terms.

Reuters broke the news early Wednesday morning, after speaking with three former employees and a fourth person with knowledge of the situation.

The program was reportedly the result of a classified directive which Yahoo Inc. complied with, providing private user information to U.S. intelligence officials — including the FBI and the National Security Agency (NSA).

By complying with the classified order, Yahoo became the first U.S. internet company to comply with to an intelligence agency’s request to search all arriving messages in real time.

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