US charges Huawei with racketeering over allegedly stolen tech after accusations of spying

The beleaguered Chinese tech company Huawei has been hit with new criminal charges after being accused of spying on customers.

There’s another privacy controversy involving Huawei, and this time the Trump administration said it has proof the Chinese telecom giant has been spying on its customers for years.

Huawei, a multi-billion dollar Chinese conglomerate and one of the biggest mobile phone manufacturers in the world, is now being accused by multiple US intelligence agencies of leaving back doors in their mobile phone equipment, and those back doors could be used to spy on users.

According to The Wall Street Journal, for more than a decade Huawei has built equipment that secretly preserves its ability to access networks through a process known as “lawful interception interfaces,” which are generally used by law enforcement to tap into wireless networks for legal purposes.

Huawei has been hit with fresh charges in the US. Picture: Fred Dufour/AFP

RELATED: Vodafone and TPG merger cleared by court

This access can give police and other officials valuable intelligence about criminals, terrorists, and human trafficking networks.

But it also allows the telecom provider – in this case, Huawei – to access sensitive and personal information, and has allegedly done so since 2009.

This isn’t Huawei’s first run-in with the White House. The company has been accused for years of unfair trade practices and of being used by the Chinese military to spy on Americans.

But it still continues to do big business overseas.

The British Government has agreed to continue to use Huawei equipment in the rollout of its 5G wireless network, despite warnings from America, and Australia having banned the company from its 5G networks.

Germany is also using gear from Huawei, but says its legal-intercept system was built by a German company.

Australia banned Huawei from 5G in 2018, citing national security. Picture: Justin Tallis/AFP

RELATED: Photo reveals insane zoom on new phone

Just last month, the US Justice Department announced charges against Huawei, including fraud, theft and obstruction of justice.

On Thursday, even more indictments were unveiled, stemming from Huawei’s alleged theft of intellectual property.

The company denies all allegations, including spying on users, writing in a statement, “US allegations of Huawei using lawful interception are nothing but a smokescreen – they don’t adhere to any form of accepted logic in the cyber security domain.”

Huawei also accused the US Government of hypocrisy, citing the NSA PRISM surveillance program exposed by Edward Snowden and recent reports about a CIA-owned encryption agency used by foreign governments and intelligence agencies as proof.

A version of this article originally appeared on Fox News and was reproduced with permission