Obama is UK's Daddy. British spy agency GCHQ chose to accept $137 million in free spy equipment from Obama 2009-2012. Desperate to please him, UK was more or less obligated to give NSA access to its US data-UK Guardian, Reuters, Washington Post

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"But the NSA could not use Prism, which was overseen once a year by the surveillance court, for the collection of virtually all data handled by those companies [Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, Apple and five others]. To widen its access, it teamed up with its British counterpart, Government Communications Headquarters, or GCHQ, to break into the private fiber-optic links that connected Google and Yahoo data centers around the world."...

June 21, 2013, "British spy agency taps cables, shares with U.S. NSA-Guardian," Reuters, London

"Britain’s spy agency GCHQ has tapped fibre-optic cables that carry international phone and internet traffic and is sharing vast quantities of personal information with the U.S. National Security Agency, the Guardian newspaper said on Friday....

Earlier this month, in response to questions about the secret U.S. data-monitoring program Prism, British Foreign Secretary William Hague told Parliament that GCHQ always adhered to British law when processing data gained from eavesdropping. He would not confirm or deny any details of UK-U.S. intelligence sharing."...
  
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Added: GCHQ is more or less obligated to share US data with NSA. Daddy Obama gave GCHQ $137 million in free spy equipment 2009-2012: When NSA was unable to use Prism to get US data, "to widen its access, it teamed up with its British counterpart, Government Communications Headquarters, or GCHQ." NSA then "tapped into U.S. company data from outside U.S. territory." "Data from hundreds of millions of US accounts" flowed to NSA from its bought and paid for "partner," the UK:

Dec. 23, 2013, "Edward Snowden, after months of NSA revelations, says his mission's accomplished," Washington Post, Barton Gellman

"Using PRISM, the cover name for collection of user data from Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, Apple and five other U.S.-based companies, the NSA could obtain all communications to or from any specified target. The companies had no choice but to comply with the government's request for data.

But the NSA could not use Prism, which was overseen once a year by the surveillance court, for the collection of virtually all data handled by those companies. To widen its access, it teamed up with its British counterpart, Government Communications Headquarters, or GCHQ, to break into the private fiber-optic links that connected Google and Yahoo data centers around the world.

That operation, which used the cover name MUSCULAR, tapped into U.S. company data from outside U.S. territory. The NSA, therefore, believed it did not need permission from Congress or judicial oversight. Data from hundreds of millions of U.S. accounts flowed over those Google and Yahoo links, but classified rules allowed NSA to presume that data ingested overseas belonged to foreigners."...


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Question for UK: Who's your Daddy? Answer: Obama, who gave you $137 million in free spy equipment from 2009-2012 with predictable result: "GCHQ seems desperate to please its American benefactor and the NSA does not hold back when it fails to get what it wants...UK's biggest fear is that "US perceptions of the partnership may diminish, leading to loss of access, and/or reduction in investment to the UK""...(UK, you're not a partner, you're a dependent--to be as polite as possible. You accepted free US taxpayer cash in a secret arrangement with heavy strings attached.)

Aug. 1, 2013, "Exclusive: NSA pays £100m [$137,290,032] in secret funding for GCHQ," UK Guardian, Nick Hopkins, Julian Borger

*Secret payments revealed in leaks by Edward Snowden  
•GCHQ expected to 'pull its weight' for Americans  
•Weaker regulation of British spies 'a selling point' for NS 

"The US government has paid at least £100m [$137,290,032] to the UK spy agency GCHQ over the last three years to secure access to and influence over Britain's intelligence gathering programmes. The top secret payments are set out in documents which make clear that the Americans expect a return on the investment, and that GCHQ has to work hard to meet their demands. "GCHQ must pull its weight and be seen to pull its weight," a GCHQ strategy briefing said."...



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