NSA Scandal Grows

According to a Guardian report on Thursday, not only was the NSA involved in stripping data from millions of Americans, but the FBI and even Microsoft were abetting the scheme. Apparently Microsoft was helping the FBI and NSA get around its encryption software, and even allowing them to listen in on Skype call and chats. That’s the same kind of behavior America’s media was chastising Egypt’s Mubarak-era security forces for back in 2011.

The Hill’s Jennifer Martinez outlines the scandal here.

Documents leaked by former government contractor Edward Snowden show that Microsoft helped the National Security Agency (NSA) work around the encrypted code on its new Outlook portal after the spy agency expressed concern that it wouldn’t be able to intercept Web chats, according to The Guardian.

Microsoft also gave the FBI easier access to its cloud storage service SkyDrive and let the NSA have access to email on Outlook and Hotmail before it was encrypted, according to the paper.

The video service Skype, which is owned by Microsoft, also allowed the NSA to cull video and audio conversations, the newspaper reported.