Glenn Greenwald, writing for The Guardian:
The National Security Agency has obtained direct access to the systems of Google, Facebook, Apple and other US internet giants, according to a top secret document obtained by the Guardian.
The NSA access is part of a previously undisclosed program called PRISM, which allows officials to collect material including search history, the content of emails, file transfers and live chats, the document says.
Why is this such a shock? Who didn’t already suspect this was going on? I’m glad it’s finally public, and only surprised it took this long. Unfortunately, the man whose done us all this heroic favor will probably be prosecuted. Any of the occasional talk in congress about bills that protect online privacy are laughable in this context.
I have long believed that our government should obtain a search warrant — issued by a court — before gaining access to private communications,” Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said last week. “I have worked over the last several years to update our federal privacy laws to better safeguard our privacy rights in the digital age.”