The British Government is under increasing pressure to order an inquiry into claims that the country’s security services were covertly gathering a mass of personal data from some of the world’s largest Internet firms through a US spy programme.
Britain’s eavesdropping centre — Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) — will report to the Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee Committee (ISC) by Monday over claims it secretly gathered intelligence. British Indian MP Keith Vaz described the allegations regarding the government’s Cheltenham-based electronic listening post as “chilling”. “The most chilling aspect is that ordinary American citizens and potentially British citizens too were apparently unaware that their phone and online interactions could be watched. I am astonished by these revelations, which could involve the data of thousands of Britons. According to the report in the ‘Guardian’ newspaper, the GCHQ may have directly requested material from the US National Security Agency’s Prism programme, which can search huge stores of internet data for information on individuals. PTI