Yahoo allowed the U.S. government to search all incoming emails for specific intelligence
Yahoo built a program to search all of its customers' incoming emails for a specific combination of characters at the request of the U.S. government last year, people familiar with the situation revealed to Reuters. The surveillance program scanned emails in real time for the characters that intelligence officials had identified.
The program was written without the involvement of Yahoo's security team, meaning when the siphon was discovered in May 2015, security originally thought it was put in the system by hackers. Former Chief Information Security Officer Alex Stamos subsequently resigned from Yahoo, citing his exclusion from a decision that made users' emails vulnerable. He claimed a programming flaw made stored emails accessible to hackers.
Phone and internet companies sometimes turn over customer data to the government to assist in situations such as preventing terrorism, but usually the searches are much more limited, or only of stored emails. Yahoo could have theoretically fought the government's directive, citing the enormous breadth of the demand or the need to write a new program to scan all incoming emails, but people familiar with the decision told Reuters the executives decided to comply because they thought they would lose the case.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"Reuters was unable to determine what data Yahoo may have handed over, if any, and if intelligence officials had approached other email providers besides Yahoo with this kind of request," Reuters writes.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
-
Eurovision 2024: how is politics playing out in Sweden?
Today's big question World's most popular song contest 'has always been politically charged' but 'this year perhaps more so than ever'
By The Week UK Published
-
'Trump's Tahoe tryst'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
In the fold with Gergei Erdei
The Blend Artist explains his foray into precious folding screens
By Mary Cleary Published
-
Empty-nest boomers aren't selling their big homes
Speed Read Most Americans 60 and older do not intend to move, according to a recent survey
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Brazil accuses Musk of 'disinformation campaign'
Speed Read A Brazilian Supreme Court judge has opened an inquiry into Elon Musk and X
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Disney board fends off Peltz infiltration bid
Speed Read Disney CEO Bob Iger has defeated activist investor Nelson Peltz in a contentious proxy battle
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Disney and DeSantis reach detente
Speed Read The Florida governor and Disney settle a yearslong litigation over control of the tourism district
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Visa and Mastercard agree to lower swipe fees
Speed Read The companies will cap the fees they charge businesses when customers use their credit cards
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Reddit IPO values social media site at $6.4 billion
Speed Read The company makes its public debut on the New York Stock Exchange
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Housing costs: the root of US economic malaise?
speed read Many voters are troubled by the housing affordability crisis
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Feds cap credit card late fees at $8
speed read The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized a rule to save households an estimated $10 billion a year
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published