The union representing German journalists advised its members to stop using Search And E-mail Services of Google and Yahoo because of the reported snooping by US and British intelligence.
Previously, the Washington Post had reported that the NSA had tapped directly into communications links used by Google and Yahoo to move large amounts of email and other user information between overseas data centers. It said the program was operated jointly with UK’s GCHQ.
“The searches made by journalists are just as confidential as the contact details of their sources and the contents of their communication with them,” said Michael Konken, head of the union which represents about 38,000 journalists. He said there were safe alternatives for both searches and email as per this report from Reuters.
