Policy

Google Hackers Accessed US Surveillance Database

Maybe they'll be the ones to tell us who the government is spying on?

|

Hackers who breached Google's network in 2010 obtained access to the company's system for tracking surveillance requests from law enforcement, according to a news report.

The hackers gained access to a database that Google used to process court orders from law enforcement agencies seeking information about customer accounts, including classified FISA orders that are used in foreign intelligence surveillance investigations, according to the Washington Post.

The database contained years' worth of information on law enforcement surveillance surveillance orders issued by judges around the country. The hackers were hoping to discover if law enforcement agents were investigating undercover Chinese intelligence operatives who were working out of the U.S.