The material provides the first evidence of a financial relationship between the tech companies and the NSA.
Aug 23, 2013
Newly released NSA documents, along with fresh reporting from the Guardian on Friday, show that not only were large internet companies in the U.S.--including Yahoo, Google, Microsoft and Facebook--aware of massive surveillance operations by the intelligence agency but were receiving payment from the government in order to cover financial costs incurred by their compliance with the measures.
As the Guardian's Ewan MacAskill reports:
The disclosure that taxpayers' money was used to cover the companies' compliance costs raises new questions over the relationship between Silicon Valley and the NSA. Since the existence of the program was first revealed by the Guardian and the Washington Post on June 6, the companies have repeatedly denied all knowledge of it and insisted they only hand over user data in response to specific legal requests from the authorities.
The reporting by MacAskill utilized internal NSA memos about the agency's 'Prism' program provided by whistleblower Edward Snowden and coupled them with recent declassified information about a 2011 ruling by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) which ruled that aspects of certain surveillance programs were unconstitutional.
In the aftermath of that 2011 FISC ruling, as MacAskill, the NSA was forced to pay "millions of dollars to cover the costs of major internet companies involved in the Prism surveillance program."
Join Us: News for people demanding a better world
Common Dreams is powered by optimists who believe in the power of informed and engaged citizens to ignite and enact change to make the world a better place. We're hundreds of thousands strong, but every single supporter makes the difference. Your contribution supports this bold media model—free, independent, and dedicated to reporting the facts every day. Stand with us in the fight for economic equality, social justice, human rights, and a more sustainable future. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Newly released NSA documents, along with fresh reporting from the Guardian on Friday, show that not only were large internet companies in the U.S.--including Yahoo, Google, Microsoft and Facebook--aware of massive surveillance operations by the intelligence agency but were receiving payment from the government in order to cover financial costs incurred by their compliance with the measures.
As the Guardian's Ewan MacAskill reports:
The disclosure that taxpayers' money was used to cover the companies' compliance costs raises new questions over the relationship between Silicon Valley and the NSA. Since the existence of the program was first revealed by the Guardian and the Washington Post on June 6, the companies have repeatedly denied all knowledge of it and insisted they only hand over user data in response to specific legal requests from the authorities.
The reporting by MacAskill utilized internal NSA memos about the agency's 'Prism' program provided by whistleblower Edward Snowden and coupled them with recent declassified information about a 2011 ruling by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) which ruled that aspects of certain surveillance programs were unconstitutional.
In the aftermath of that 2011 FISC ruling, as MacAskill, the NSA was forced to pay "millions of dollars to cover the costs of major internet companies involved in the Prism surveillance program."
Newly released NSA documents, along with fresh reporting from the Guardian on Friday, show that not only were large internet companies in the U.S.--including Yahoo, Google, Microsoft and Facebook--aware of massive surveillance operations by the intelligence agency but were receiving payment from the government in order to cover financial costs incurred by their compliance with the measures.
As the Guardian's Ewan MacAskill reports:
The disclosure that taxpayers' money was used to cover the companies' compliance costs raises new questions over the relationship between Silicon Valley and the NSA. Since the existence of the program was first revealed by the Guardian and the Washington Post on June 6, the companies have repeatedly denied all knowledge of it and insisted they only hand over user data in response to specific legal requests from the authorities.
The reporting by MacAskill utilized internal NSA memos about the agency's 'Prism' program provided by whistleblower Edward Snowden and coupled them with recent declassified information about a 2011 ruling by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) which ruled that aspects of certain surveillance programs were unconstitutional.
In the aftermath of that 2011 FISC ruling, as MacAskill, the NSA was forced to pay "millions of dollars to cover the costs of major internet companies involved in the Prism surveillance program."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.