Nothing private about it

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In what came as a major shock to many social media users in USA, and also across the globe, it became known on Friday that Google, Facebook and seven other major Internet companies have been allowing the National Security Agency to directly access users’ data.

The nine companies involved are Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Yahoo, PalTalk, AOL, Skype, YouTube and Apple, according to the report. According to a report, the project called PRISM involves the NSA, USA’s premier security agency, accessing emails, photographs, documents and other sensitive data of users from all nine companies. The report was published after The Washington Post and The Guardian were in possession of a PowerPoint presentation provided by a whistleblower in the intelligence services. FBI is involved in this too.
Companies, as expected, declined giving direct access, and some even went to the extent of saying that they had never heard of PRISM. A Google spokesperson said that Google does not have a back door for the government to access private user data. He did however admit that the company discloses “user data to government in accordance with the law”. An Apple spokesperson denied that the company had ever heard of PRISM. Facebook has also denied involvement. The one major Internet company notably absent from PRISM is Twitter.
According to The Washington Post, the programme has gone on to become NSA’s top source of raw intelligence, accounting for nearly 15% of intelligence reports and serving as “the most prolific contributor” to President Barack Obama’s daily briefing.
A strange coincidence is that the news of PRISM’s existence comes less than just 24 hours after a published report of a secret order compelling USA’s top telecom company Verizon to provide the NSA with phone metadata for millions of its customers.
Well, looks like it’s never going to be an easy task keeping things to yourself once they are out of your mind!