VLEMX "keep informed"

This photo provided by The Guardian Newspaper in London shows Edward Snowden, who worked as a contract employee at the National Security Agency, on Sunday, June 9, 2013, in Hong Kong. Documents leaked by Snowden suggest that spy agencies have a powerful ally in the apps installed on smartphones across the globe. (AP Photo/The Guardian) LONDON • Documents leaked by former NSA contactor Edward Snowden suggest that spy agencies have a powerful ally in the apps installed on smartphones across the globe. The documents, published by The New York Times , the Guardian , and ProPublica , suggest that the mapping, gaming, and social networking apps which are a common feature of the world's estimated 1 billion smartphones can feed America's National Security Agency and Britain's GCHQ with huge amounts of personal data, including location information and details such as political affiliation or sexual orientation. The size and scope of the program aren't p...