Angry Birds Developer Rovio Denies Working With NSA To Spy on Users

"Angry Birds" developer Rovio has denied working with government agencies of the United States and Great Britain to spy on users and steal their personal information after it was alleged by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden that "leaky apps" such as "Angry Birds" could be used to acquire information about a user's location and list of contacts.

In an official statement posted on the Rovio website, the company flat out denies ever have worked with the U.S. or Great Britain government agencies and sharing user data with them.

"Rovio Entertainment Ltd, which is headquartered in Finland, does not share data, collaborate or collude with any government spy agencies such as NSA or GCHQ anywhere in the world," the statement read.

The company clarified that it is not "Angry Birds" itself that could be used for spying, but third party advertising networks used by apps such as "Angry Birds" that could be exploited by government agencies. However, Rovio also denies allowing third party networks to use user information found on Rovio programs:

"The alleged surveillance may be conducted through third party advertising networks used by millions of commercial web sites and mobile applications across all industries," the statement read. "If advertising networks are indeed targeted, it would appear that no internet-enabled device that visits ad-enabled web sites or uses ad-enabled applications is immune to such surveillance. Rovio does not allow any third party network to use or hand over personal end-user data from Rovio's apps."

Mikael Hed, CEO of Rovio Entertainment, echoed these sentiments and stated that having the trust of fans is much more important than allowing world governments to spy on users.

"Our fans' trust is the most important thing for us and we take privacy extremely seriously. We do not collaborate, collude, or share data with spy agencies anywhere in the world," said Hed. "As the alleged surveillance might be happening through third party advertising networks, the most important conversation to be had is how to ensure user privacy is protected while preventing the negative impact on the whole advertising industry and the countless mobile apps that rely on ad networks."

Rovio has made it clear that they had nothing to do with the controversial NSA or their spying techniques, and also made it clear that if Angry Birds or any other games made by the company was exploited it was due to a third party with lax security and not their own fault.