Representational Image (Reuters)
Whistleblowing site WikiLeaks on Monday accused Google of handing over the emails and electronic data of its senior staff to the US authorities without providing notification until almost three years later.
Google was apparently acting in response to warrants issued by the US Department of Justice, which is investigating WikiLeaks for publishing hundreds of thousands of classified military and diplomatic files.
WikiLeaks said the allegations against it point to a far broader investigation into its activities than the US authorities have previously indicated.
Alleged offences range from espionage to theft of US government property and computer fraud and abuse, it said.
"Today, WikiLeaks' lawyers have written to Google and the US Department of Justice concerning a serious violation of the privacy and journalistic rights of WikiLeaks' staff," the site said in a statement.
WikiLeaks said that Google could and should have resisted complying with the warrants, as well as immediately informing those whose data it handed over.
The warrants demanded emails, contacts and IP addresses relating to the Google accounts of investigations editor Sarah Harrison, section editor Joseph Farrell and spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson.
The information was handed over to the US authorities on April 5, 2012, but Google did not inform the WikiLeaks staff until December 23, 2014, according to documents obtained by AFP.
"While WikiLeaks journalists, perhaps uniquely, do not use Google services for internal communications or for communicating with sources, the search warrants nonetheless represent a substantial invasion of their personal privacy and freedom," the organisation added.