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Rovio denies sharing Angry Birds data with NSA or any other spy agency

Bird in a cage

Rovio denies sharing Angry Birds data with NSA or any other spy agency
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| Angry Birds

Yesterday, The New York Times ran a piece in which it was mooted that "spies could be lurking in the background to snatch data" when a smartphone user opens a popular mobile game like Angry Birds.

According to the authors of recently leaked secret British intelligence documents, the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Government Communications HQ (GCHQ) are trying to exploit so-called "leaky apps" to obtain information regarding your location, sexual orientation, and political alignment.

Well, the developer of Angry Birds, Rovio, has issued a statement today in which the Finnish firm vehemently states that it "does not provide end user data to government surveillance agencies".

Private matter

"The alleged surveillance may be conducted through third-party advertising networks used by millions of commercial web sites and mobile applications across all industries," Rovio says.

"If advertising networks are indeed targeted, it would appear that no internet-enabled device that visits ad-enabled web sites or uses ad-enabled applications is immune to such surveillance."

Rovio notes, though, that it will re-assess its relationship with advertising services to prevent user privacy from ever being compromised.

"In order to protect our end users, we will, like all other companies using third-party advertising networks, have to re-evaluate working with these networks if they are being used for spying purposes."

The Verge
Chris Priestman
Chris Priestman
Anything eccentric, macabre, or just plain weird, is what Chris is all about. He turns the spotlight on the games that fly under the radar.