Brazil a Mayor Target of NSA Spying Program

A large number of citizens and companies in Brazil had their telephone and internet messages monitored by the U.S. National Security Agency, according to documents released on Sunday by Brazilian newspaper O Globo and British daily The Guardian.

The publication reports that the spying on millions of communications among Brazilians happened during the last decade, although there is no precise data on how many exact people were actual victims of the program. The data was collected by the NSA and later leaked by former computer network technician American Edward Snowden.

As a reference, the article states that Brazil was only a bit behind the United States in intecepted comunications. The U.S. had a total 2,300 million telephone messages and emails spied in the month of January by the National Security Agency, according to the documents released by Snowden.

"If this information is verified as true it would be extremely serious and the government will respond accordingly," Brazilian Foreign Ministry spokesman Tovar Nuneshe told the Associated Press, who also indicated that there is a consultation underway to verify the version.

The AP also consulted a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Brasilia, Dean Chaves, who said that any response to the leaking of this information would be issued in Washington.

"NSA documents speak for themselves. Brazil, with extensive public and private networks that are operated by large telecommunications is highlighted on maps of the U.S. agency as a priority to target alongside nations such as China, Russia and Pakistan," the article by O Globo reports.

The leaked information was initially reported by journalist Glenn Greenwald of the British newspaper The Guardian. Greenwald wrote in his blog that the U.S. intelligence apparatus has serious implications for the privacy of citizens worldwide.

"The U.S. government, in complete secrecy, is building an ubiquitous espionage apparatus directed not only to their own citizens but citizens around the world, with profound consequences. Erodes, if not eliminate, the ability to use the internet with any other privacy or personal security," Greenwald wrote in his blog.

As published in O Globo, the NSA relies on a partnership with a large U.S. telecommunications company, that is not identified, which uses contacts with Brazilian companies in the sector to access messages from users in the South American country.