Thanks to NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden, the Optic Nerve, a secretive British spying program, has recently been been outed for allegedly collecting millions of webcam images from Yahoo users. The GCHQ, Britain’s surveillance agency, has also identified the Xbox 360’s Kinect camera as a possible source of stolen images. Files, dating from 2008 to 2010, show Optic Nerve’s conquest, with millions of images being stored in databases. An article written by The Guardian states “these images were stored regardless of whether the users were being targeted by intelligence services”. Of the images, an estimated 3% to 11% contain “undesirable nudity”, with over 1.8 million captured from Yahoo users in a six-month period alone.

Yahoo undoubtedly responded to the report with outrage:

"We were not aware of, nor would we condone, this reported activity. This report, if true, represents a whole new level of violation of our users' privacy that is completely unacceptable, and we strongly call on the world's governments to reform surveillance law consistent with the principles we outlined in December."

This hush-hush nerve center may have done more than snoop on Yahoo Messenger users. It is also being reported that interception of the Xbox 360 Kinect camera is likely possible. Microsoft is denying all knowledge and calling it a nightmare. It is also not yet known whether GCHQ actually got a hold of recorded and still images via the Kinect, it is simply being implied. GCHQ says the camera generated “fairly normal webcam traffic and was being evaluated as part of a wider program”.

In turn, Microsoft is stating that back in December they began “initiating a broad effort to expand encryption across our services and are advocating for legal reforms”. This isn’t the first time Microsoft has been under the microscope in recent times. Just last year, Snowden revealed the scope of NSA’s PRISM spying efforts, when the GCHQ and NSA were both caught listening to Xbox Live chats. Current revelations of spying should only make webcam users extra aware of what they do online, and when they have the camera on. Although that lens is in front of you, it is always possible to turn it off, disconnect it, or put tape over it.