US, UK secret deal gives NSA private data of Britons

New documents leaked by former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden show that the United States and United Kingdom struck a secret deal to share the private data of British citizens.

The agreement struck during the waning days of the Tony Blair government in 2007, allegedly allowed the NSA to store and analyze the phone, email and internet records of any UK citizen.

This even applied to those Britons who were "incidentally" caught up in surveillance operations and who were not under investigation.

That data is now being held in databases to be shared with other members of the US intelligence and military community.

The Guardian newspaper, which reported the findings, said it is the first explicit confirmation that UK citizens were being spied on.

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Other European nations' citizens had already been made aware that their phone records and other data were being watched and stored by the NSA.

The documents reveal a sharp contrast to decades-old agreements and recent statements that both nations would not spy on each other, though it is increasingly clear that this did not encompass civilians.

The so-called "Five Eyes" partnership between the UK, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand but that agreement seems to have been called off with the new findings.

The documents reported on by the Guardian allege that the NSA can hold and analyze any British citizens' mobile phone, emails and IP addresses.

This even applied to those not accused of any wrongdoing.

That also includes analyzing those within three contacts away from a person of interest, no matter what their tangential connecton may be. The Guardian estimates that that could mean up to five million people swept up if you use the typical Facebook user as an example.

Lastly, the memo suggests that the US reserves the right to spy on UK citizens without their government knowing.