EYE ON YOU

Ecuador Has Secret Spying Program

Surveillance methods taint Snowden refuge.

Whistleblower Edward Snowden might want to rethink his Ecuadorian refuge plan: according to leaked documents procured by BuzzFeed, the South American country has questionable spying practices all its own. The confidential documents reveal a secret program in which Ecuador’s intelligence agency, SENAIN, targets journalists and politicians and recently spent over half a million dollars on a “GSM interceptor”—which has the capability to intercept and manipulate phone calls and texts, so says the device’s supplier. Hiding in Ecuador may be hypocritical, but at least he’ll have a friend: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been harbored in the country’s embassy for over a year.