better than the NSA these past several months; the latest
leak shared with the Guardian claims that Britain has
been collecting millions of webcam images from Yahoo
users. What's more, it appears that these images were
used to discover "targets" and match users with existing
persons of interest via automated facial recognition.
According to documents provided by Edward Snowden,
GCHQ intercepted still images of Yahoo video calls --
including those done with Yahoo Messenger -- in bulk
and saved them as part of a program code-named Optic
Nerve. The agency apparently collected these images
whether or not users were deemed intelligence targets --
in a six-month period in 2008, it amassed webcam pics
from more than 1.8 million Yahoo users around the
globe. The documents also reveal that these images
were collected with the purpose of identifying targets
using facial-recognition tools to compare Yahoo users
to existing GCHQ targets.
Though the revelation that GCHQ has been collecting
and viewing Yahoo user's private webcam chats is
remarkable in and of itself, the agency's naiveté is also
a bit surprising; according to documents, the agency
observed that "unfortunately... it would appear that a
surprising number of people use webcam conversations
to show intimate parts of their body to the other
person." GCHQ reportedly instituted efforts to shield
explicit images from its staff, but it doesn't require a
huge leap to understand the privacy issues at stake for
Yahoo users who assume their webchats aren't being
monitored.
Yahoo, which has taken measures to protect users in
light of recent privacy concerns, told the Guardian it
wasn't aware of this program, and GCHQ has declined
to comment. It remains unclear whether Optic Nerve is
still up and running, though we'll be sure to report on
any additional leaks if they become available.
VIA: The Next Web
SOURCE: The Guardian
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