According to the Washington Post, the PRISM system enables NSA staff to enter search
commands that ultimately go directly to equipment that spies on US cloud-based servers: U.S., company officials: Internet surveillance does not indiscriminately mine data – The Washington Post.
According to a more precise description contained in a classified NSA inspector general’s report, also obtained by The Post, PRISM allows “collection managers [to send] content tasking instructions directly to equipment installed at company-controlled locations,” rather than directly to company servers. The companies cannot see the queries that are sent from the NSA to the systems installed on their premises, according to sources familiar with the PRISM process.
It seems that this works through “indirect access” instead of the “direct access” wording that appeared identically in all the corporate denials.
The NSA’s own description of PRISM is at odds with the corporate denials: both cannot be true.
And as I note below – corporations did not install this gear for free. What did the government offer them to participate? More H-1B visas?
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