Written by: Aashrabh khanal - 22001, Grade XI
Posted on: 19 January, 2021
PRISM is a surveillance program run by the United States National Security Agency [NSA] which works to collect internet communications data. The data is acquired through the servers of internet companies such as Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, Apple, etc. PRISM collects stored internet communications based on demands made to internet companies under Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 to turn over any data that match court-approved search terms.[ Wikipedia (2018). PRISM(surveillance program)] . The U.S government says that the main goal of PRISM is to protect America from threats possessed by terrorists or state actors that are being perpetrated using the internet.
PRISM is said to be one of the leading tools in intelligence gathering done by the NSA and other intelligence agencies in America. Over 90% of the internet data collected by the NSA is said to be under PRISM. The PRISM program began in 2007, approved by Congress during the Bush administration. The surveillance program continued under the Obama administration and was used to its full extent to collect information. The existence of PRISM was leaked in 2013 by Edward Snowden who worked in the surveillance program to collect internet data. The leaks were published by major news sources like The Washington Post and The Guardian. The leaks were a major setback to the U.S intelligence community. Microsoft was the first to be part of the PRISM program. It was followed by Yahoo in 2008; Google, Facebook, and PalTalk in 2009; YouTube in 2010; Skype and AOL in 2011; and finally Apple, which joined the program in 2012.[ Ball, James & Rushe Dominic (2013). The Guardian ( NSA Prism program taps in to user data of Apple, Google, and others) ]. The data is collected in the form of emails, videos, voice-chats, VoIP, chats, etc. The NSA collects this information by accessing directly into the servers of the internet companies which comply to provide information and which are part of the PRISM program.
