Wikileaks today released a huge cache of documents from Germany's intelligence agency, BND, allegedly showing several shocking things.

Among them: the U.S. was paying several tech companies to get access to private communications, and unknowingly targeting US people in spying is not a big deal.

Notably, during the release of the documents, Wikileaks servers went down, leading some to wonder if there was some kind of hack (DDoS?) against their network.

Wikileaks Doc: Accidentally Targeting US Person 'Nothing To Worry About'

The NSA is apparently not too concerned about accidentally spying on US people during their data collection/querying activities. In a sort-of-FAQ, the following is stated:

With all querying, if you discover it actually is US, then it must be submitted and go in the OCG quarterly report...'but it's nothing to worry about'

Another part of the document about unregistered URIs says:

If there is no information to suggest it is a legitimate US used site, assume foreign...it must be submitted and go in the OCG quarterly report...'but it's nothing to worry about'

Wikileaks Doc: NSA Paying Microsoft, Google, Etc. For Access To Private Info

While we knew from Edward Snowden and others that the NSA was working with these companies, these documents show the extent to which they were collaborating.

We have looked at machine-translated quotes from the documents released and found these interesting snippets:

Apparently, some of the discussions regarding building the cross-border spying operation occurred during TITP (trade deal like TPP) discussions:

NSA / Prism regulations (So-called ad-hoc EU-US High levelexpert group on security And data protection), which shall take place parallel to the beginning of the first round of negotiations TTIP on July 8, 2013 in Washington D.C. A first meeting.

NSA payments to Google, Microsoft and Yahoo Small request 17t14302 - Watching the internet ... that the NSA had made money payments to companies like Google, Facebook and Yahoo, so they could use their Internet services

The companies involved include:

A total of nine search engine operators (Google, Microsoft, etc.), social networks (Facebook, Google, etc.) and cloud providers (Apple etc.) Google, etc.) and cloud providers

Also included is Akamai, a cloud company which distributes data geographically.

You will receive the draft for a language regulation on NSA payments and the like. Google, Microsoft and Yahoo MdB for professional examination and supplementation until 10:30 am

Another quote from the documents:

On the basis of excerpts from NSA documents... the NSA has paid money to companies like Google, Facebook and Yahoo In order to enable them to adapt their public services to the requirements of the Espionage

Wanna read more on this? Check these out: Explosive: Wikileaks Julian Assange Says "War Is Just Commencing" (more); SHOCKER: Wikileaks Posts Macron Email Leak Docs, Confirmed By Macron Campaign (more); Comey: Wikileaks Is Criminal Because They Don't Call Us Before Publishing (Watch) (more); What's Happening To WikiLeaks? CIA Threatens 'Private Intelligence Service,' Things Heat Up (more).

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A few more: RIP Wikileaks? Ecuador Elections Could Mean The End For Julian Assange (more); Wikileaks Julian Assange Resurfaces on Twitter - Could #Vault7 be Imminent? (more).