doctor_slump 2008-9-30 07:32 PM
Camera with terror suspect photos reportedly sold on eBay
UK Police are investigating how a digital camera reportedly containing The Secret Intelligence Service (colloquially known as MI6) images of terrorist suspects came to be sold on Internet auction site eBay, police and the Foreign Office said on Tuesday.
The camera, which sold for 17 pounds (HK$ 240) , included photos of suspects along with their names and fingerprints, as well as pictures of rocket launchers and missiles, according to The Sun.
The 28-year-old man who won the auction found the data -- which had apparently been gathered by MI6 -- while downloading his own pictures from the Nikon Coolpix camera.
"We can confirm we seized a camera after a member of the public reported it. Intelligence officers are investigating," said a spokeswoman for Hertfordshire police.
A Foreign Office spokesman confirmed that police were investigating, but declined to say whether intelligence agents were involved, or to comment on reports that the camera was sold by an MI6 agent.
A friend of the unidentified buyer told The Sun: "He only bought the camera because he was going on holiday with his ex."
"He flew home early this month and downloaded his holiday pictures and saw some of rocket launchers and missiles. He knew he hadn't taken them so he asked his friends about it and they suggested going to the police."
Among the images which are reported to have been found on the camera is a document, marked "top secret", which gives details of the encrypted computer system used by MI6's agents in the field.
Having told his local police station, he was surprised a few days later when Special Branch officers arrived to confiscate it.
Officers have made five visits to his home in the last week to quiz him and his family, the paper reported.
[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Secret_Intelligence_Service_building_-_Vauxhall_Cross_-_Vauxhall_-_London_-_24042004.jpg[/img]
The SIS building at Vauxhall Cross, London
