TIME World U.S.-Germany spy scandal Germany May Counter U.S. Spying With Typewriters Rolando Diaz's MINE item is a Spanish-language typewriter, it is seen here on October 19, 2013 in Washington, D.C. Nathaniel GrannThe Washington Post\/Getty Images The use of typewriters instead of e-mail was adopted by Russia last year following similar claims of U.S espionage <\/p>\n
A leading German politician has suggested that typewriters will be used to write confidential documents, in the wake of the U.S. spying scandal. <\/p>\n
Patrick Sensburg, head of the German parliaments enquiry into NSA activity, said that email may soon become redundant, in an interview with the Morgenmagazin TV show Monday night. <\/p>\n
Faced with the incredulity of the interviewer, Sensburg insisted that his announcement wasnt a joke. He added that should German politicians adopt typewriters, theyll be using manual, not electronic, models. <\/p>\n
Sensburg said that ongoing U.S. monitoring of Germany necessitated the change in operation. <\/p>\n
Berlin isnt the first country to consider reverting to old-school technology. Germany follows in the footsteps of Russia, which reportedly took similar measures after whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed the Kremlin had been a target of NSA spying. <\/p>\n
The Kremlins security agency spent 486,540 rubles, or around $14,162, on typewriters equipped with a unique typing pattern that allowed each document to be linked to a particular machine. <\/p>\n
The scandal surrounding U.S. surveillance of Germany escalated last week after the top U.S. Intelligence official at the American Embassy in Berlin was ordered to leave Germany. <\/p>\n
The CIA station chiefs exodus clipped on the heels of news reports earlier this month that a German intelligence official arrested on suspicion of spying had been working as a double agent for the U.S. <\/p>\n
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry traveled to Germany Sunday to play down tensions, calling the two nations great friends. <\/p>\n
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