Whistleblowers have “undermined” Google’s defence of their tax arrangements, and HMRC should “fully investigate” the US technology giant, a committee of MPs has said.
The US National Security Agency (NSA) has direct access to information on the servers of major American internet companies, according to reports published in the Guardian and the Washington Post.
The UK’s digital spying and eavesdropping agency GCHQ are due to report to MPs “within days” over claims that it was involved in gathering intelligence on British citizens from internet companies such as Google, Facebook, and Apple along with the US National Security Agency as part of its PRISM operation.
A 41-slide NSA presentation has been leaked on a program called PRISM, which gives the spy agency “direct access” to the servers of the biggest Internet companies in the US, including Google, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, AOL, Yahoo and Skype.
A month ago, we wrote about how the UK’s infamous “Snooper’s Charter” had been scuppered by Nick Clegg, the UK’s Deputy Prime Minister, a decision likely influenced by top internet companies such as Google, Facebook, and Twitter.