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  Brazil's government admitted on Monday that it spied on U.S. and other diplomats in 2003 and 2004.

  Brazil Spied on U.S. Diplomats

  Brazil's government admitted on Monday that it spied on U.S. and other diplomats in 2003 and 2004.
  
  

  By

  Tom Murphy

  Nov. 4, 2013 3:26 p.m. ET

  SÃO PAULO—Brazil's government, which expressed outrage over allegations that the U.S. spied on its president and appealed to the United Nations to tighten global privacy protections, admitted on Monday that it spied on U.S. and other diplomats in 2003 and 2004.
  The disclosure was prompted by a Monday report in daily newspaper Folha de S. Paulo, which said it had obtained documents from people within the Brazilian Intelligence Agency that outlined the spying program. The report said Brazil spied on diplomats, embassies and embassy residences from the U.S., Russia, Iran and Iraq in Brasília.
  

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  In a September speech to the U.N., Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff called on the nations of the world to beef up rules providing for privacy protection in Internet and phone communications. Associated Press

  The report called the spying effort "modest in scope and technique," involving agents that followed diplomats on foot and by car and took photos of them before and after private meetings. Brazilian agents also monitored activities at a U.S. Embassy annex. The Brazilian effort didn't involve sophisticated electronic surveillance, according to the Folha de S. Paulo report.
  The Brazilian government's Office of Institutional Security, which oversees the intelligence agency for Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, issued a statement Monday acknowledging the veracity of the main points in the Folha de S. Paulo report. "The operations involved counterintelligence efforts by the intelligence agency in 2003 and 2004," the statement said.
  "The operations were undertaken in strict accordance with Brazilian legislation and in strict defense of national interests," the statement said.
  The statement didn't confirm the details of the documents published by Folha de São Paulo. However, the statement said the leaking of classified government documents constituted "a serious crime, which will be investigated and prosecuted under the terms of the law."
  Press reports in August indicated that the U.S. National Security Agency had been monitoring electronic and phone communications of Brazilian citizens, businesses and government officials, including Ms. Rousseff.
  Brazil's government reacted with anger to the allegations, based on documents leaked by disaffected U.S. Central Intelligence Agency contractor Edward Snowden. Shortly after, Ms. Rousseff postponed a planned state visit to Washington.
  Last week, Brazil joined Germany in presenting a draft resolution to the U.N. seeking to secure greater privacy protection in international law.
  —In a September speech to the United Nations, Ms. Rousseff called on the nations of the world to beef up rules providing for privacy protection in Internet and phone communications.
  

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