WASHINGTON: U.S. and British spy agencies are tapping popular smartphone apps such as Angry Birds and Google Maps to collect users' personal information including location, age, sex and even sexual orientation, the New York Times reported on Monday (Tuesday in Manila).

Citing previously undisclosed classified documents provided by former U.S. defense contractor Edward Snowden, the report said the National Security Agency (NSA) and its British counterpart, Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), were working together on how to collect and store data from "leaky" smartphone apps by 2007.

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