Here are the tech companies denying involvement with the NSA's PRISM program
"We have never heard of PRISM," says Apple
The Washington Post has published a massive investigative report revealing a secret state-run program called PRISM, which allows the National Security Agency to legally extract "audio and video chats, photographs, emails, documents, and connection logs that enable analysts to track foreign targets" from the servers of nine U.S. internet companies. According to the document obtained by The Post, the official roster includes Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, PalTalk, AOL, Skype, YouTube, and Apple. (Here's everything we know about PRISM so far.)
The Post has since backtracked on its original stance that the companies "participated knowingly" in the program, and has added this hedging paragraph:
Here are statements from the firms that have so far denied involvement with the program. Remember: Skype is owned by Microsoft, and YouTube is owned by Google. AOL has yet to respond, but we'll update this list when or if it does:
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Microsoft:
Yahoo:
Google:
Facebook:
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
PayTalk:
Apple:
Dropbox:
So what's going on? A few early possibilities:
1. The Washington Post is wrong. At this point, that doesn't look likely.
2. The companies are being less than forthright. They could be phrasing their denials in such a way that they're technically telling the truth. "Comparing denials from tech companies, a clear pattern emerges," writes Andrea Peterson at ThinkProgress:
3. PRISM is simply a very, very closely guarded secret. It could be that the NSA's arrangements with the companies "are kept so tightly compartmentalized that very few people know about it," writes TheWeek.com's Marc Ambinder. "Those who do probably have security clearances and are bound by law not to reveal the arrangement." Security expert Robert David Graham puts it another way:
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
The pros and cons of labor unions
Pros and Cons Joining a labor union can have positives — and negatives
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
'His death creates an opportunity for rough justice'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Movies to watch in October, from 'Joker: Folie à Deux' to 'Saturday Night'
The Week Recommends Joaquin Phoenix as Joker, a new Jason Reitman comedy and a buzzy Palme d'Or winner
By Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, The Week US Published