The NSA and its British counterpart are tapping popular
smartphone apps such as Angry Birds to peek into the tremendous amounts of very
personal data those bits of software collect -- including age, location sex and
even sexual preferences, according to new reports from the New York Times and
The Guardian.
Citing confidential documents provided by whistleblower
Edward Snowden, the reports detail efforts to supplement data collection from
cell phone carriers and smartphones by tapping into “leaky” apps themselves.
“Some apps, the documents state, can share users' most
sensitive information such as sexual orientation – and one app recorded in the
material even sends specific sexual preferences such as whether or not the user
may be a swinger,” the Guardian said.
That information can come from a user profile, which may
contain martial status -- options included "single,"
"married," "divorced," "swinger" and more, the
report said.
Both spy agencies showed a particular interest in Google
Maps, which is accurate to within a few yards or better in some locations and
would clearly pass along data about a phone owner's whereabouts.
“It effectively means that anyone using Google Maps on a
smartphone is working in support of a GCHQ system,” reads a secret 2008 report
by the NSA's sister spy agency, according to the New York Times.
More surprising is the wide range of apps that the agencies
cull for data, including innocent-seeming apps such as Angry Birds. One
document in particular from GCHQ listed what information can be extracted from
which apps, citing Android apps but suggesting the same data was available from
the iPhone platform.
Angry Birds maker Rovio said it had no knowledge of any NSA
or GCHQ programs or mechanisms for tapping into its users’ data.
"Rovio doesn't have any previous knowledge of this
matter, and have not been aware of such activity in 3rd party advertising
networks," said Saara Bergstrom, Rovio's VP of marketing and
communications. "Nor do we have any involvement with the organizations you
mentioned [NSA and GCHQ]."
Mobile photo uploads appear to be a particularly rich source
of information for the spy agencies as well. Metadata in the photos -- which is
often ultimately stripped from pictures by social media sites like Facebook and
Twitter -- is briefly available.
The NSA and GCHQ are able to tap into that metadat to
collect a wealth of key data points about a person’s life, including age,
gender, marital status (“Options include single, married, divorced, swinger and
more,” The Guardian said), income, education level and more.
“NSA does not profile everyday Americans as it carries out
its foreign intelligence mission,” the agency told the Times in response to
questions about the program.
During a Monday press conference, White House press
secretary Jay Carney stressed that same position.
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