Yahoo is now on the seat for its latest involvement with the so-called email probing as requested by US spy agencies according to reports. While other internet giants, like Google and Microsoft, deny any involvement in the case at hand, tensions are still building up.
Based on the statement of some anonymous tipsters, the said the company created software that would probe all of its user incoming emails searching for any relevant keywords. This particular clandestine operation was accordingly ordered by US intelligence officials, involving either the National Security Agency or the FBI, according to Reuters.
Based on the statement of company's former employees, the operation for email probing started last year which aimed to examine incoming emails rather than the stored messages. There were no particular details on what emails or messages were already sent to US intelligence agencies, but the said software could have scanned emails for particular phrase or attachment as it would relate to particular targets and threats to US national security.
When asked by Reuters for any comments on the matter, the company being scrutinized only replied by highlighting its company's nature as a law abiding firm, without directly answering the issue of email probing. However, such action has been criticized by some privacy groups, labeling it as unlawful.
"The sweeping warrantless surveillance of millions of Yahoo users' communications described in the Reuters story flies in the face of the Fourth Amendment's prohibition against unreasonable searches," TheVerge quoting Patrick Toomey of the American Civil Liberties Union as saying.
The activity being done by one of the biggest emailing services has been considered as unreasonable under the prohibitions of the Fourth Amendment. For according to reports, the government has no reason to investigate "suspicionless" emails without any justifiable reason to back it up.
As a result of this unreasonable probing of incoming emails, suspicions are likewise being casted towards other leading internet-tech giants, like Google and Microsoft. But the two companies were quick to dismiss any idea of being affiliated with such stealthy email probing being condemned by privacy advocates.
In a statement sent to Reuters, Microsoft spokesperson said, "We have never engaged in the secret scanning of email traffic like what has been reported today about Yahoo."
Now with the said issue involving an email service company, the post-Snowden era has been alarmed. And concerns about the reach and influence of the US security agencies has been raised, and the constitutionality of their act has been questioned once more.
Watch here below video tip on email hacking: