NSA data-mining 101: two 'top secret' programs and what they do

“These revelations are a reminder that Congress has given the executive branch far too much power to invade individual privacy, that existing civil liberties safeguards are grossly inadequate, and that powers exercised entirely in secret, without public accountability of any kind, will certainly be abused,” Jameel Jaffer, ACLU deputy legal director, said in a statement Thursday.

PRISM was apparently launched not long after President George W. Bush’s secret program of warrantless domestic surveillance came to light in 2007, according to a timeline on the top-secret document. Congress enacted the Protect America Act in 2007 and the FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) Amendments Act of 2008, which gave companies immunization from privacy lawsuits when they cooperate with US intelligence agencies seeking to use company data. Soon thereafter, PRISM signed up Microsoft, according to the document on the Post website.

“We provide customer data only when we receive a legally binding order or subpoena to do so, and never on a voluntary basis,” Microsoft said in a statement to the Post. “In addition we only ever comply with orders for requests about specific accounts or identifiers. If the government has a broader voluntary national security program to gather customer data, we don’t participate in it.”

Yahoo also issued a statement. So did Joe Sullivan, chief security officer for Facebook, who told the Post that “we carefully scrutinize any such request for compliance with all applicable laws, and provide information only to the extent required by law.”

Details aren't known concerning how the PRISM operation analyzes data. But PRISM is apparently intended to help catch terrorists and is described in the title page of the top secret NSA document as “the SIGAD Used Most in NSA Reporting.” A “SIGAD” is short for Signals Intelligence Activity Designator, a source of intelligence for the NSA. 

The document points toward a program that collected social media information beginning in 2007 with contributions from Microsoft. A year later, Yahoo was roped in, and then in 2009 Google, Facebook, and PalTalk. YouTube was included starting in 2010, then Skype and AOL in 2011, and finally Apple in October 2012.

Google, for its part, said in a statement to the Guardian that its actions are lawful.

"We disclose user data to government in accordance with the law, and we review all such requests carefully,” its statement said. “From time to time, people allege that we have created a government 'back door' into our systems, but Google does not have a back door for the government to access private user data."

The ACLU's Mr. Jaffer had this foreboding comment about PRISM: “The stories published over the last two days make clear that the NSA – part of the military – now has direct access to every corner of Americans’ digital lives. Unchecked government surveillance presents a grave threat to democratic freedoms.”

Surveillance program oversight

Asked about the secret programs Friday during a press conference, Mr. Obama said they are authorized under existing law and reviewed regularly by congressional committees.

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