Internet Cable Will Span Atlantic to Thwart US Spying

In the wake of Edward Snowden's NSA revelations, a fuming Brazil began plotting an undersea cable to reroute Internet traffic away from the US—and the plan is one that will come to fruition. Brazilian and EU officials yesterday agreed on the installation of an undersea communications cable that will run from Lisbon to Fortaleza. Brazil currently uses US undersea cables to communicate with Europe; an aging cable does run directly across the Atlantic, but it's only used for voice contact. The $185 million project may be completed by next year.

It will be a joint project of Telebras, a government-owned Brazilian telecom, and IslaLink Submarine Cables of Spain, ZDNet reports. The system is intended to "guarantee the neutrality" of the Internet, Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff says. "We have to respect privacy, human rights, and the sovereignty of nations. We don't want businesses to be spied upon." Her remarks came amid a summit in Brussels that saw no open criticism of the US, Reuters notes. (More NSA stories.)