Prism and the US internet giants: The relationship, the numbers and the language
The US has been accessing private data of 'foreigners' for years - so who are the eight companies in the Prism scandal, and what was their role?
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Your support makes all the difference.Name: Microsoft
Value: £151bn
PRISM inclusion: September 2007
Users: 400m
They said: “Your privacy is our priority.”
They say: "If the government has a broader voluntary national security program to gather customer data we don't participate in it.”
Name: Yahoo!
Value: £15bn
PRISM inclusion: December 2008
Users: 200m
They said: “Yahoo! is committed to gaining your trust.”
They say: “We do not provide the Government with direct access to our servers, systems, or network.”
Name: Google
Value: £173bn
PRISM inclusion: January 2009
Users: 1bn
They said: “We want you to be clear how we’re using information and the ways in which you can protect your privacy.”
They say: “Google does not have a 'back door' for the government to access private user data.”
Name: Facebook
Value: £40bn
PRISM: inclusion: June 2009.
Users: 1bn
They said: “We will protect you and your information better than any other company in the world.”
They say: “When Facebook is asked for data or information about specific individuals, we carefully scrutinize any such request for compliance with all applicable laws, and provide information only to the extent required by law.”
Name: Paltalk
Value: £100m
PRISM inclusion: December 2009
Users: 150m
They said: “We strive to protect our user's privacy.”
They say: Not commented yet.
Name: YouTube
Value: £13bn
PRISM inclusion: September 2010
Users: 1bn
They said: “We're serious about protecting our users.”
They say: “Google [which runs YouTube] does not have a back door for the government to access private user data."
Name: Skype
Value: £8.8bn
PRISM inclusion: February 2011
Users: 663m
They said: “Skype [owned by Microsoft] is committed to respecting your privacy.”
They say: “If the government has a broader voluntary national security program to gather customer data we don't participate in it.”
Name: AOL
Value: £2bn
PRISM inclusion: March 2011
Users: 300m
They said: “Your information is only shared with third parties with your permission.”
They say: Not commented yet.
Name: Apple
Value: £268bn
PRISM inclusion: October 2012
Users: 500m
They said: “Your privacy is important to Apple.”
They say: “"We have never heard of PRISM. We do not provide any government agency with direct access to our servers, and any government agency requesting customer data must get a court order."
Further reading:
GCHQ handed personal web data by US spies
Obama defends NSA and FBI mining private data
Q&A: What is Prism, is it legal and what data can it obtain?
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