(ANSA) - BERLIN - The number of unlawful key selectors, namely search keys improperly used by German intelligence service (BND) on behalf of US intelligence to monitor Internet traffic, would be about 25,000, almost double than previously thought. This news was reported by Dpa news agency, quoting sources of the Intelligence Audit Committee, which is dealing with the case.

According to the results so far, the secret service agents might have operated on behalf of the NSA, spying, maybe unwittingly, political allies and many companies across Europe. Among the 25,000 selectors mentioned by the DPA, however, there would not be targets of industrial espionage. An analysis conducted after Edward Snowden's surveillance revelations in 2013, disclosed that 25,000 selectors might have been unlawfully monitored - not complying with the agreements between the US and Germany - in the field of cooperation between intelligence services.

(ANSA).