ID :
207480
Fri, 09/16/2011 - 06:32
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/207480
The shortlink copeid
S. Korean spy agency monitors Gmail account: report
By Lee Youkyung
SEOUL (Yonhap) - South Korea's national spy agency monitored a Google Inc.'s Gmail account of a citizen who was charged with violating the national security law, a local daily reported Friday.
The National Intelligence Service (NIS) received a court approval to monitor the Gmail account of Kim Hyung-geun, 52, to collect email evidences regarding his allegedly pro-North Korean activities, the Hankyoreh daily reported, citing a document filed with the Constitutional Court.
The NIS argued that "packet monitoring" of Kim's Gmail account was "inevitable" because local citizens evade investigations by seeking a so-called cyber exile in foreign email services, rendering search warrants ineffective, the agency wrote in the legal document.
The court granted access to Kim's Gmail to the agency, according to Hankyoreh. The spy agency likely has the technical skills to monitor the stream of emails sent to and from Gmail accounts and glean information, the report added.
It did not say when the monitoring took place nor whether or not Google was notified.
A spokesman for the Constitutional Court confirmed that the NIS wrote the document cited in the newspaper but declined to elaborate.
Google Korea's spokeswoman declined to comment.
SEOUL (Yonhap) - South Korea's national spy agency monitored a Google Inc.'s Gmail account of a citizen who was charged with violating the national security law, a local daily reported Friday.
The National Intelligence Service (NIS) received a court approval to monitor the Gmail account of Kim Hyung-geun, 52, to collect email evidences regarding his allegedly pro-North Korean activities, the Hankyoreh daily reported, citing a document filed with the Constitutional Court.
The NIS argued that "packet monitoring" of Kim's Gmail account was "inevitable" because local citizens evade investigations by seeking a so-called cyber exile in foreign email services, rendering search warrants ineffective, the agency wrote in the legal document.
The court granted access to Kim's Gmail to the agency, according to Hankyoreh. The spy agency likely has the technical skills to monitor the stream of emails sent to and from Gmail accounts and glean information, the report added.
It did not say when the monitoring took place nor whether or not Google was notified.
A spokesman for the Constitutional Court confirmed that the NIS wrote the document cited in the newspaper but declined to elaborate.
Google Korea's spokeswoman declined to comment.
