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Recommended Reading: The CIA-owned company that helped it spy on the world
The intelligence coup of the century Greg Miller, The Washington Post This in-depth report tells the story of Crypto AG, a Switzerland-based company that achieved success for its code-making machines during World War II. The company eventually became a popular manufacturer of encryption machines for countries around the world in the decades that followed. Governments trusted that communications between diplomats, military and spies were being kept secret. What those nations didn't know was that Crypto AG as actually owned by the CIA -- originally in partnership with West German intelligence. What's more, the access allowed the two countries to to rig the tech so they could easily crack any code.
Germany scales back its spying while other nations want more
The UK and other countries might be pushing for greater spying powers than they've ever had before, but don't tell that to Germany -- it's doing just the opposite. The country hopes to ban its intelligence agency, the BND, from indiscriminately spying on European Union citizens or organizations. Effectively, it'll give the EU the same privacy rights as it would offer people within its own borders. The proposed law will limit digital snooping and wiretaps to extreme situations, such as when there are suspicions of terrorism, organized crime or broken arms embargoes. It also explicitly forbids spying on allies' institutions (ahem, NSA) and economic espionage.
Germany investigates claims that it helped the US spy on Europe
Germany is more than a little nervous about US surveillance these days, and it's now anxious enough that it might just file charges. Federal prosecutors say they will investigate claims that the country's foreign intelligence outfit broke the law by helping the US' National Security Agency spy on European companies and governments for over a decade. Among other concerns, the NSA reportedly gave German spies 40,000 surveillance targets (such as internet addresses and phone numbers), several thousand of which were illegal.
Germany accidentally spied on phone calls from Hillary Clinton and John Kerry
Germany may be upset with the US over its eagerness to spy on national leaders (and seemingly everyone else), but it turns out that Germany itself isn't completely above reproach. Der Spiegel has revealed that the country's BND intelligence agency accidentally scooped up calls from US Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton (in 2012) and John Kerry (in 2013) while spying on Middle Eastern terrorist targets. The German agents reportedly destroyed the intercepted calls as soon as they realized what they had, but they also kept the discovery hush-hush.
