UK spy agency intercepted images from millions of Yahoo users: Report

The UK's GCHQ spy agency intercepted webcam images from millions of Yahoo users around the world, suspects or otherwise, according to The Guardian.

The report is based on information from thousands of documents leaked by US whistleblower Edward Snowden, who at one time worked as contractor with the National Security Agency (NSA).

According to the newspaper, in one six-month period in 2008, the UK spy agency collected webcam imagery from over 1.8 million Yahoo user accounts.

The data collected under a GCHQ programme called Optic Nerve, was available to NSA analysts through routine information sharing. The data contained a significant amount of sexual content.

"Unfortunately... it would appear that a surprising number of people use webcam conversations to show intimate parts of their body to the other person," it read.

"Also, the fact that the Yahoo software allows more than one person to view a webcam stream without necessarily sending a reciprocal stream means that it appears sometimes to be used for broadcasting pornography."

Yahoo, which denied any prior knowledge of the alleged programme, expressed outrage at the reported surveillance.

"We were not aware of nor would we condone this reported activity," Yahoo said in a statement.

Outraged politicians and human rights groups have reacted angrily at the revelation.

The report quoted UK  member of parliament David Davis as saying it was now known that millions of Yahoo account holders were filmed without their knowledge through their webcams, the images of which were subsequently stored by GCHQ and the NSA. He added, it was "quite frankly, cheap".

According to Davis, it was perfectly proper for the intelligence agencies to use any and all means to target those suspected of terrorism, kidnapping and other serious crimes, but what was alarming was the indiscriminate nature of the programme.