The German journalists’ union has urged its members to stop using Google and Yahoo in the wake of reported spying by US and British intelligence agencies.
The union said in a statement: "The German Federation of Journalists recommends journalists to avoid until further notice the use of search engines and e-mail services from Google and Yahoo for their research and digital communication."
The union also cited ‘scandalous’ reports of snooping of both firms’ web traffic by the National Security Agency (NSA) and Britain’s GCHQ, Reuters reported.
Journalist Union head Michael Konken said that there were safe alternatives for both searches and email.
"The searches made by journalists are just as confidential as the contact details of their sources and the contents of their communication with them," Konken said.
Recently, the NSA reportedly tapped the data links deployed by Google and Yahoo to transfer huge amounts of email and other user data among its data centres overseas.
Disclosures by ex-NSA contractor Edward Snowden about the global surveillance, on the suspected mass snooping of emails to the tapping the phones of leaders’ worldwide, have led to global outrage.
