PRISM

Fast-forward to the September 11^th terrorist attacks and the radical actions taken by the government in response to national security. Twelve years later in 2013, NSA computer security consultant Edward Snowden revealed the domestic mass surveillance program the Planning Tool for Resource Integration,Synchronization, and Management (PRISM) that was implemented under the covers in 2001. The data collection system cooperated with private companies—much like that with the telegraph companies in the 1940’s—to compile excruciating details about personal communications. For example, a call log would provide information on the phone numbers, call time, and location of both participating parties to the database. Other platforms of information detected by PRISM include email, video, instant messaging, photographs, online cloud data, file transfer, video chatting, online accounts, and social media.

            Snowden revealed many of the companies that were and continue to remain in cahoots with the NSA in the acquisition of PRISM data. These private organizations included Microsoft and its platforms Xbox Live, Hotmail and Office, Apple, Google, Facebook, Paltalk,Youtube, Skype, Yahoo, and AOL. These companies are several of the world’s most massive and permeable technological platforms, reaching most if not all forms of modern day digital communication and connection. While the main goal of PRISM was stated to be similar in intent to that tried by the  legislation discussed prior—that is to detect foreign threats, only—the overlap into domestic data retrieval was and continues to be extensive. Evidently the algorithm used in the PRISM method obtains data from all over the world, not only limited to foreign threats. The accidental data retrieved domestically should be disregarded as discussed in FISA; however as Snowden presented with his release of the NSA slides on PRISM, American data is indeed stored in the databases.

Below are some of the slides that Snowden leaked to the Washington Post and The Guardian in 2013. They came directly from the NSA as a showcase for the processes of the program.