Ever since Edward Snowden broke the news of the NSA spying on US citizens beyond their legal scope, there has been a frenzy of espionage related conspiracy theories that have assaulted the internet. However many of them are becoming less and less far fetched as Snowden’s leaks continue to break.
In a recent development, it’s been revealed that the NSA dedicated a section of their spy force to listen to Xbox Live chat conversations, which almost certainly resulted in a barrage of immature trash talk, and likely very little illegal activity.
It seems that games such as GTA which “promote violence” or at least seem to often appear as hobbies of those who have a tendency towards criminality are a prime means of vetting potential threats. Microsoft has declined to comment on the NSA overseeing of their chat frequencies, which only furthers suspicion of their involvement.
It’s not only Xbox Live chat that has been under surveillance: World of Warcraft chats have apparently been flagged as well. Developers Blizzard asserted that they were unaware of any such surveillance taking place.
Source: Guardian