Snowden's subsequent disclosures included statements that government agencies such as the United Kingdom's GCHQ also undertook mass interception and tracking of internet and communications data – described by Germany as 'nightmarish' if true – allegations that the NSA engaged in 'dangerous' and 'criminal' activity by 'hacking' civilian infrastructure networks in other countries such as 'universities, hospitals, and private businesses', and alleged that compliance offered only very limited restrictive effect on mass data collection practices (including of Americans) since restrictions 'are policy-based, not technically based, and can change at any time', adding that 'Additionally, audits are cursory, incomplete, and easily fooled by fake justifications', with numerous self-granted exceptions, and that NSA policies encourage staff to assume the benefit of the doubt in cases of uncertainty. The presentation noted that these facts provide United States intelligence analysts with opportunities for intercepting the communications of foreign targets as their electronic data pass into or through the United States. The slide presentation stated that much of the world's electronic communications pass through the U.S., because electronic communications data tend to follow the least expensive route rather than the most physically direct route, and the bulk of the world's internet infrastructure is based in the United States. The speaker's notes in the briefing document reviewed by The Washington Post indicated that '98 percent of PRISM production is based on Yahoo, Google, and Microsoft'. The documents identified several technology companies as participants in the PRISM program, including Microsoft in 2007, Yahoo! in 2008, Google in 2009, Facebook in 2009, Paltalk in 2009, YouTube in 2010, AOL in 2011, Skype in 2011 and Apple in 2012. The leaked documents included 41 PowerPoint slides, four of which were published in news articles. President Barack Obama, during a visit to Germany, stated that the NSA's data gathering practices constitute 'a circumscribed, narrow system directed at us being able to protect our people.' Media disclosure of PRISM įurther information: Global surveillance disclosureĮdward Snowden publicly revealed the existence of PRISM through a series of classified documents leaked to journalists of The Washington Post and The Guardian while Snowden, who was an NSA contractor at the time, was visiting Hong Kong. Additionally claiming the program has helped to prevent acts of terrorism, and that it receives independent oversight from the federal government's executive, judicial and legislative branches. government officials have disputed criticisms of PRISM in the Guardian and Washington Post articles and have defended the program, asserting that it cannot be used on domestic targets without a warrant.

ĭocuments indicate that PRISM is 'the number one source of raw intelligence used for NSA analytic reports', and it accounts for 91% of the NSA's internet traffic acquired under FISA section 702 authority.' The leaked information came after the revelation that the FISA Court had been ordering a subsidiary of telecommunications company Verizon Communications to turn over logs tracking all of its customers' telephone calls to the NSA. Subsequent documents have demonstrated a financial arrangement between the NSA's Special Source Operations (SSO) division and PRISM partners in the millions of dollars. The disclosures were published by The Guardian and The Washington Post on June 6, 2013. Its existence was leaked six years later by NSA contractor Edward Snowden, who warned that the extent of mass data collection was far greater than the public knew and included what he characterized as 'dangerous' and 'criminal' activities. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA Court, or FISC) pursuant to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

The program is operated under the supervision of the U.S. PRISM began in 2007 in the wake of the passage of the Protect America Act under the Bush Administration. Among other things, the NSA can use these PRISM requests to target communications that were encrypted when they traveled across the internet backbone, to focus on stored data that telecommunication filtering systems discarded earlier, and to get data that is easier to handle. PRISM collects stored internet communications based on demands made to internet companies such as Google LLC and Apple under Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 to turn over any data that match court-approved search terms. The program is also known by the SIGAD US-984XN. PRISM is a code name for a program under which the United States National Security Agency (NSA) collects internet communications from various U.S.

Obama prism sticker