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Yahoo "Secretly Scanned Emails for US Authorities"

posted by takyon on Wednesday October 05 2016, @02:14AM   Printer-friendly
from the everyone-invited-to-look dept.

An Anonymous Coward writes:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-37551415

Yahoo secretly scanned millions of its users' email accounts on behalf of the US government, according to a report. Reuters news agency says the firm built special software last year to comply with a classified request.

"Yahoo is a law abiding company, and complies with the laws of the United States," the tech firm said in a statement provided to the BBC.

The allegation comes less than a fortnight after Yahoo said hackers had stolen data about many of its users. Yahoo is in the process of being taken over by Verizon Communications in a $4.8bn (£3.8bn) deal. The telecoms provider declined to comment on the report.

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  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by AudioGuy on Wednesday October 05 2016, @03:29AM

    by AudioGuy (24) on Wednesday October 05 2016, @03:29AM (#410486) Journal

    https://theintercept.com/2016/10/04/delete-your-yahoo-account/ [theintercept.com]

    (from their article)

    The fact that every single Yahoo email account was subject to this surveillance seems at odds with figures in Yahoo’s transparency report, which claims fewer than 20,000 accounts were tapped at the behest of the U.S. government. It would also appear to run contrary to the spirit of two quotations on Yahoo’s transparency site, where Yahoo General Counsel Ron Bell claims, “We fight any requests that we deem unclear, improper, overbroad, or unlawful,” and Mayer says, “We’ve worked hard over the years to earn our users’ trust and we fight hard to preserve it.”

    ...

    "Here is how to delete your Yahoo account."

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 05 2016, @12:05PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 05 2016, @12:05PM (#410549)

    fewer than 20,000 accounts were tapped

    "The emails weren't tapped, we scanned them and gave the data to the government."

    We fight any requests that we deem unclear, improper, overbroad, or unlawful

    "It wasn't necessarily a request but it was clear, unlawful, and not exactly overbroad."

  • (Score: 2) by Joe Desertrat on Wednesday October 05 2016, @08:50PM

    by Joe Desertrat (2454) on Wednesday October 05 2016, @08:50PM (#410821)

    and Mayer says, “We’ve worked hard over the years to earn our users’ trust and we fight hard to preserve it.”

    Now that is ROTFL funny!