New PRISM slides reveal new details about the programme

New information has come to light regarding PRISM, the US government programme that supposedly collects data such as emails, chat, voice calls, photos and text messages from some of the world’s largest internet companies.

The new PRISM slides, published by the Washington Post, come almost a month after the original leak of the programme by former NSA contractor, whistleblower, and now fugitive Edward Snowden. Providing greater detail as to the operation of PRISM, the slides reveal what actually happens when the NSA “tasks” the PRISM system for information about a surveillance target. The slides show the number of active surveillance targets and lists all the participating tech companies and when each joined the program.

According to the slides, despite strong denials by the listed tech companies in the PRISM leak, information has been passing between them and the government as early as September of 2007 with Microsoft the first company to be recruited into the programme. Apple meanwhile only joined in 2012.

What’s quite interesting is PRISM’s ability to track real-time communication. According to the Post, there is an FBI “interception unit on the premises of private companies”. Through these units, a surveillance target’s “information is passed to one or more “customers” at the NSA, CIA or FBI”. We are uncertain if this means that there is hardware present at the premises of the listed companies that enable the tracking of information. Snowden’s original leak stated that information was collected “directly” from the servers of participating companies.

None of the listed tech companies have responded to the new information which casts some doubt on earlier denials.

You can read the Washington Post’s full report on the slides here.