Panopticon of global surveillance

[Peter Lemkin]

The latest disclosures from whistleblower Edward Snowden have provided more details on how the National Security Agency has spied on the United Nations and countries worldwide. Citing Snowden's leaks, the German magazine Der Spiegel reports the NSA decoded the U.N.'s internal video conferencing system to eavesdrop last year. One NSA official wrote: "the data traffic gives us internal video teleconferences of the United Nations. (yay!)" The spying on U.N. communications would violate the U.N.'s Espionage Act. Overall, an NSA operation called "Special Collection Services" bugged or monitored some 80 embassies and consulates around the world, including the European Union offices near the U.N.'s New York headquarters as well as the International Atomic Energy Agency. According to Der Speigel, the NSA's embassy spy program "has little or nothing to do with warding off terrorists."