Incoming Yahoo emails last year were scanned by the company’s custom built software program designed to search for information for U.S. security officials, according to a story by Reuters.
While it is unclear whether the scan was ordered by the NSA or FBI, this could be the first case of a U.S. internet company complying with an intelligence agency’s request to search arriving messages.
Yahoo has responded to the story stating the company is law abiding “and complies with the laws of the United States.”
Questions remain about why Yahoo didn’t challenge the scan, and other tech companies are denying that they have taken the same actions. The scan comes on the heels of a the tech giant’s email hack last month.
Larry speaks to Reuters Technology Reporter Joseph Menn, who broke the story on the scan, to get a deeper look at the tech giant’s response, and his thoughts on what kind of precedence this sets for email security.
Guest:
Joseph Menn, technology projects reporter for Reuters; he broke the story, “Exclusive: Yahoo secretly scanned customer emails for U.S. intelligence - sources”