The Chief Judge of the US Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court in August 2010 formally approved spying by the US National Security Agency on all countries except Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, according to reports published in the United States.

Edward Snowden

Malta was included in a list of countries where spying could take place.

The NSA was allowed to use US companies any any means of communication to conduct surveillance.

The certification was among documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

It lists 193 countries along with the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the European Union and the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The Washington Post, which published some of the documents, said that the NSA was not necessarily targeting all the countries or organizations identified in the certification, but it had been given authority to do so.

The surveillance court approves rules for surveillance targeting and for protecting Americans’ privacy.

See the list of countries at http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/page/world/list-of-foreign-governments-and-organizations-authorized-for-surveillance/1133/