Rights groups call for action over reported US-UK phone hack

Rights groups call for action over reported US-UK phone hack

LONDON (AP) — Rights organizations on Friday called for urgent steps to be taken to protect private calls and online communications after allegations that U.S. and British agencies hacked into the networks of a major SIM card maker.

The World Wide Web Foundation, founded by Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee, said the alleged hacking by the National Security Agency and its British counterpart, GCHQ, was “another worrying sign that these agencies think they are above the law.”

The claims of the hack into Netherlands-based company Gemalto came from documents given to journalists by whistleblower Edward Snowden. A story about the documents posted Thursday on the website The Intercept said the agencies hacked into Gemalto’s networks to steal codes that allow both governments to seamlessly eavesdrop on mobile phones worldwide.

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