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PRISM

For other uses, see Prism (disambiguation).


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PRISM is a code name for a program under which the United States National Security Agency (NSA) collects internet communications from various U.S. internet companies.[1][2][3] The program is also known by the SIGAD US-984XN.[4][5] 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.[6] 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,[7][8] and to get data that is easier to handle.[9]

PRISM began in 2007 in the wake of the passage of the Protect America Act under the Bush Administration.[10][11] The program is operated under the supervision of the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA Court, or FISC) pursuant to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).[12] 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.[13] The disclosures were published by The Guardian and The Washington Post on June 6, 2013. Subsequent documents have demonstrated a financial arrangement between the NSA's Special Source Operations (SSO) division and PRISM partners in the millions of dollars.[14]

Documents 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."[15][16] 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.[17][18]

U.S. 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. 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.[19][20] On June 19, 2013, U.S. 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."[21]

  1. ^ Gellman, Barton; Poitras, Laura (June 6, 2013). "US Intelligence Mining Data from Nine U.S. Internet Companies in Broad Secret Program". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on June 6, 2013. Retrieved June 15, 2013.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Greenwald1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Braun, Stephen; Flaherty, Anne; Gillum, Jack; Apuzzo, Matt (June 15, 2013). "Secret to PRISM Program: Even Bigger Data Seizures". Associated Press. Archived from the original on September 10, 2013. Retrieved June 18, 2013.
  4. ^ Chappell, Bill (June 6, 2013). "NSA Reportedly Mines Servers of US Internet Firms for Data". NPR. The Two-Way (blog of NPR). Archived from the original on June 13, 2013. Retrieved June 15, 2013.
  5. ^ ZDNet Community; Whittaker, Zack (June 8, 2013). "PRISM: Here's How the NSA Wiretapped the Internet". ZDNet. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on June 14, 2013. Retrieved June 15, 2013.
  6. ^ Barton Gellman & Ashkan Soltani (October 30, 2013). "NSA infiltrates links to Yahoo, Google data centers worldwide, Snowden documents say". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on April 6, 2014. Retrieved October 31, 2013.
  7. ^ Siobhan Gorman & Jennifer Valentiono-Devries (August 20, 2013). "New Details Show Broader NSA Surveillance Reach - Programs Cover 75% of Nation's Traffic, Can Snare Emails". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved August 21, 2013.
  8. ^ "Graphic: How the NSA Scours Internet Traffic in the U.S." The Wall Street Journal. August 20, 2013. Retrieved August 21, 2013.
  9. ^ Jennifer Valentiono-Devries & Siobhan Gorman (August 20, 2013). "What You Need to Know on New Details of NSA Spying". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved August 21, 2013.
  10. ^ Lee, Timothy B. (June 6, 2013). "How Congress Unknowingly Legalized PRISM in 2007". Wonkblog (blog of The Washington Post). Retrieved July 4, 2013.
  11. ^ Johnson, Luke (July 1, 2013). "George W. Bush Defends PRISM: 'I Put That Program in Place to Protect the Country'" Archived July 2, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. The Huffington Post. Retrieved July 4, 2013.
  12. ^ Office of the Director of National Intelligence (June 8, 2013). "Facts on the Collection of Intelligence Pursuant to Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act" (PDF). dni.gov. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 2, 2013. Retrieved July 25, 2013.
  13. ^ Mezzofiore, Gianluca (June 17, 2013). "NSA Whistleblower Edward Snowden: Washington Snoopers Are Criminals" Archived September 17, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. International Business Times. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
  14. ^ MacAskill, Ewan (August 23, 2013). "NSA paid millions to cover Prism compliance costs for tech companies". Archived from the original on November 3, 2015. Retrieved August 27, 2013.
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference wp_slides was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ John D Bates (October 3, 2011). "[redacted]" (PDF). p. 71. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 24, 2013. Retrieved August 21, 2013.
  17. ^ Cite error: The named reference nytsavage060613 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ Greenwald, Glenn (June 5, 2013). "NSA Collecting Phone Records of Millions of Verizon Customers Daily – Top Secret Court Order Requiring Verizon to Hand Over All Call Data Shows Scale of Domestic Surveillance under Obama". The Guardian. Archived from the original on August 16, 2013. Retrieved June 15, 2013.
  19. ^ Staff (June 6, 2013). "Intelligence Chief Blasts NSA Leaks, Declassifies Some Details about Phone Program Limits". Associated Press (via The Washington Post). Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved June 15, 2013.
  20. ^ Ovide, Shira (June 8, 2013). "U.S. Official Releases Details of Prism Program". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on October 9, 2013. Retrieved June 15, 2013.
  21. ^ Madison, Lucy (June 19, 2013). "Obama defends "narrow" surveillance programs". CBS News. Archived from the original on June 27, 2013. Retrieved June 30, 2013.

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