NSA Selector List Could Reveal US Spying on German Science, Technology

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Thursday, Die Zeit newspaper reported, citing a German intelligence official, that the BND had deleted the NSA selector lists "by mistake," despite an order not to do so, imposed by an investigative parliamentary commission. According to the BND official, e-mail messages that contained the lists of the NSA targets, "were accidentally erased."

"The hide-and-seek game between the BND and the parliamentary investigation, which after many months led to the deletion of the selector lists, is a perfect example how bound civil societies' hands are against this system of espionage. This list has never been revealed, and would have also shown how much the NSA spies even on German science, technology companies," Kramm said.

However, copies of the lists must be still in the possession of the NSA and the rest of the "Five Eyes," Kramm added.

Earlier this year, German media revealed that the NSA had been using BND's Bad Aibling listening post in southern Bavaria to spy on European targets, including political figures and corporations. A German parliamentary commission initiated an investigation into the case and called on the government to reveal the full list of so-called selectors, but it has not received them.

When the commission was created, the sides agreed to a moratorium on the removal of the NSA selector lists to prevent evidence from being destroyed.