(Image source: Zimbio)

BY: LEXA DECKERT

You're watching multisource video news analysis from Newsy.

The phone-hacking scandal at News of the World--keeps getting bigger.
And if the former Prime Minister of the UK, Gordon Brown, can have private information hacked: Is anyone safe?


“Members of the royal family and former Prime Minister Gordon Brown joined the list of possible victims of improper practices by venues of the World... (FLASH) ...Journalists from other newspapers in Rupert’s News International Empire may have illegally obtained private information about Gordon Brown...” (Press Association)


Details of why the information was obtained are fuzzy - but there has been speculation on what kind of information was stolen. The Guardian reports...

“The sheer scale of the data assault on Brown is unusual, with evidence of attempts to obtain his legal, financial, tax, medical and police records as well as to listen to his voicemail. All of these incidents are linked to media organisations. In many cases, there is evidence of a link to News International.”


That’s the publisher News International, higher in the food chain of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire than the now-defunct News of the World tabloid.
And knowing what information is stolen has made it easier to figure out how it was stolen. BBC reports one technique reporters used...


REPORTER “...another of the dark arts of journalism -- so called blagging. It works like this: a newspaper pays someone to ring up perhaps a medical center or a bank and get the person who answers the phone to give out private information.” (FLASH)
LEGAL C: “Obtaining personal data, personal information about another person from a company that controls that data is quite clearly a criminal offense. What is unclear is the extent that a journalist can say, ‘Well look I have a defense to taht because I’m obtaining that, I’m doing this in the public interest.’”


Despite the general opinion -- putting the blame on News International -- the company claims innocence.


“News International (NI) has responded to the allegations, saying it is ‘comfortable’ that stories obtained about Mr Brown's children came from legitimate sources... The publisher owns The Sun and the Sunday Times - it also owned the News Of The World which it closed last week amid allegations of phone-hacking and illegal payments to police officers.” (Sky News)


But despite their plea of innocence, lawmakers have already taken action. The Independent reports, News International has been implicated in another incident...

“...the Metropolitan Police today effectively accused News International of undermining Operation Elveden, its new inquiry into alleged corruption of police officers by journalists. In a statement, the Yard said it was ‘extremely concerned and disappointed that the continuous release of selected information... could have a significant impact on the corruption investigation.’”


Reports say it looks like Brown was targeted for more than 10 years -- both as Chancellor and Prime Minister.

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Transcript by Newsy.