The "Optic Nerve" software was a joint project between the UK's Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) and the US National Security Agency (NSA). Between 2008 and 2012, it utilized hacking techniques to compromise millions of Yahoo accounts, capturing screenshots of users' video chats every five minutes. The software did not discriminate in its surveillance, meaning even ordinary individuals who posed no security threat were secretly photographed.
British intelligence agencies discovered that 11% of the screenshots captured by "Optic Nerve" contained "highly inappropriate nudity."
This news has sparked collective protests from Yahoo and British Members of Parliament.
A Yahoo spokesperson stated that this violation of user privacy is an escalation that is completely intolerable, and strongly urged governments worldwide to reform surveillance laws.
Liberal Democrat MP Julian Huppert has called for an investigation into British espionage activities. He stated: "This revelation is shocking. It is a fundamental invasion of privacy, and I find it very difficult to justify."
