21st Century Learning and Teaching

Tech companies are denying giving direct access to the NSA. Does PRISM really give the NSA direct access to users' data?

In the society that Orwell describes, everyone is under complete surveillance by the authorities, mainly by telescreens. The people are constantly reminded of this by the phrase "Big Brother is watching you", which is the core "truth" of the propaganda system in this state.

Since the publication of Nineteen Eighty-Four, the term "Big Brother" has entered the lexicon as a synonym for abuse of government power, particularly in respect to civil liberties, often specifically related to mass surveillance.

The NSA and FBI directly tapped central servers belonging to nine U.S. internet firms, in order to get a constant feed of audio, video, photos, emails and documents as well as connection logs, according to a new report.

Here's a brief summary of what we know, what we don't know, and how you can at least try to protect yourself from surveillance.

The National Security Agency's PRISM program tapped directly into the servers of most of the web's largest companies, monitoring our search history, the content of emails, file transfers, and live chats, The Guardian alleges.

Die Aufregung in den USA ist groß: Der US-Geheimdienst NSA soll Millionen von US-Internetnutzer bespitzelt haben und sich dazu einen direkten Zugriff auf die Server der neun größten US-Internet-Unternehmen verschafft haben.

• Top-secret Prism program claims direct access to servers of firms including Google, Apple and Facebook • Companies deny any knowledge of program in operation since 2007