Tech Giants Let NSA Collect User Data

In a world where technology is king and data leak scandals are prevalent, we never truly know who could potentially collect our user data. We blindly put our trust into technology companies, whose privacy policies that we never actually read, without skipping a beat. 

That is why it should be no surprise that tech giants like Google, Microsoft, Apple and Yahoo knew of the existence of the Internet surveillance program PRISM.  According to the NSA's top lawyer, quoted in a recent Mashable article, these companies complied with the government order however they just didn't know it was called that. This revelation comes after months of repeated — and very similar —denials by the tech companies.

As it turned out, the NSA can't just press a button and read a target's emails. The NSA has to get a Section 702 order (which refers to the part of the law which serves as its legal basis) and then the companies comply with it, delivering the data in different ways.

To put this is a PR perspective, it’s a disturbing thought that something you post for a client on Facebook or something you search for on Google while at work could cause three SUVs to materialize in your front yard while six plainclothes police officers fan out to case the joint and ask you a few questions. Sensitive client information should only be used while in private web browsing mode. 

What is your opinion on this recent government scandal? We want to know!