German intelligence services shared citizen data with the NSA in exchange for XKeyscore spyware

The German edition of Die Zeit gained access to documents proving that the German Federal Constitutional Protection Service (BfV - Bundesamtes für Verfassungsschutz, the country's main counterintelligence agency) provided citizens with the U.S. National Security Agency in exchange for the possibility of using XKeyscore spyware.

According to reporters, the negotiations that preceded the conclusion of the agreement in April 2013 lasted 18 months. As a result, the German secret service gained access to the software, but its level was lower than that of the countries included in the Five Eyes group, in addition to the USA itself (Great Britain, Canada, New Zealand, Australia).

In exchange for access to software, Bfv pledged to “provide as much as possible all data related to the NSA mission.”



XKeyscore can collect up to 20 terabytes of data per day in real time. Data for analysis includes chat logs, emails, messages on social networks and even the history of visits in the browser.

The Constitution Protection Service also did not notify the authorities of the use of NSA spyware. Peter Schaar, who was the data protection officer during the deal between the German intelligence service and the NSA, told Die Zeit that "he knew nothing of such an agreement."

For the first time, the general public learned about the existence of XKeyscore in 2013 from materials disclosed by a former employee of the US National Security Agency Edward Snowden.

Scandals related to wiretapping of citizens periodically arise in different countries. So recently, the head of the National Intelligence Service of South Korea admitted that his department purchased spyware from the hacker group Hacking Team to gain access to messages in popular instant messengers (for example, Kakao Talk).

In addition, the topic of mobile surveillance of the NSA was widely covered in the media earlier. In the blog, we analyzed this story in detail .

We also remind you that on September 3, at 14:00, telecom security expert Kirill Puzankov will hold a free webinar on the various dangers of mobile communications. You can register for it at the link : ptsecurity.ru/lab/webinars/#41867