NSA Takes Huge Amounts of Data from Google and Yahoo
The National Security Agency has gained access to Google and Yahoo’s cloud networks and downloaded massive amounts of data including from Americans, according to the latest revelation on leaks from Edward Snowden, this time in the Washington Post.

The project involved, known as MUSCULAR, is operated jointly with the British intelligence agency known as GCHQ, and engages in copying data from an undisclosed interception point outside of the United States from fiber-optic cables that carry information between the companies’ data centers.

Circumventing a court-approved process that allows intelligence agencies to make requests directly from companies, the NSA inhales data as it moves between data centers around the world. Data is shuttled around this as part of regular backup processes at the companies, and to enable you to quickly access your data from anywhere in the world. Google and Yahoo run their own private networks, often passing data between countries and making it vulnerable to NSA taps....