NSA fears prompt Germany to end Verizon contract

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The German government is ending a contract with Verizon over fears the company could be letting U.S. intelligence agencies eavesdrop on sensitive communications, officials said Thursday.

The New York-based company has for years provided Internet services to a number of government departments, although not to German security agencies, said Interior Ministry spokesman Tobias Plate.

While Germany had been reconsidering those contracts for some time, they faced additional scrutiny after former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden revealed the extent of electronic eavesdropping by the U.S. intelligence agency and Britain's GCHQ.

German authorities were particularly irked by reports that the NSA had targeted Chancellor Angela Merkel. Berlin has also proposed building more secure networks in Europe to avoid having to rely on American Internet companies that manage much of the electronic traffic circulating the globe.

"There are indications that Verizon is legally required to provide certain things to the NSA, and that's one of the reasons the cooperation with Verizon won't continue," said Plate.

The current contract with Verizon will expire in 2015, he said.

The announcement follows reports this week that Verizon and British company Colt also provide Internet services to the German Parliament and to other official entities.

Verizon didn't immediately respond to emails seeking comment on Germany's decision.

What tangled webs we weave. Instead of US companies being seen as the forefront of this field, they're now beginning to be seen as poison pills due to their association with the NSA's info gathering using their lines and equipment.

[rhoenix]

More information, courtesy of The Register:

The German government has said it will cancel its contract with US telecoms provider Verizon, citing spying fears.

"The pressures on networks as well as the risks from highly-developed viruses or Trojans are rising," the country's Interior Ministry told Reuters on Thursday. "Furthermore, the ties revealed between foreign intelligence agencies and firms in the wake of the US National Security Agency (NSA) affair show that the German government needs a very high level of security for its critical networks."

The move comes following reports that US intelligence agencies have been monitoring German communications networks, even to the point of tapping the mobile phone of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

In May, Germany said it didn't think it had enough evidence to pursue legal action over the Merkel affair, but that didn't stop German pols from condemning US activities based on reports in the magazine Der Spiegel, which cited documents leaked by Edward Snowden among its sources.

Merkel herself has lent her support to the idea of the European Union building new telecoms networks that would be more difficult for the US to spy on, something she has discussed with French President François Hollande.

Germans aren't alone in their outrage. Upon hearing about the Merkel affair, US senator John McCain (R-AZ) called for the resignation of then-NSA chief General Keith Alexander. That was largely for show, though; Alexander retired from military service in March, to be replaced by Navy Vice Admiral Michael Rogers.

German carrier Deutsche Telekom will reportedly pick up where Verizon leaves off after getting the boot, and Reuters notes that DT already has a contract with the German government for carrying its most sensitive phone calls and data.

In a statement, Verizon protested the German government's decision and said that there was nothing to fear from US spy agencies.

"Verizon Germany is a German company and we comply with German law," Verizon spokesman Detlef Eppig said. "The US government cannot compel us to produce our customers' data stored in data centres outside the US, and if it attempts to do so, we would challenge that attempt in a court."