New Reports of Government Surveillance Escalate Privacy Debate

Has the administration run roughshod over the public's rights?

Microsoft might want to rethink running those ads that boast, "Your privacy is our priority."

A stunning report in the Washington Post that says that the government, under the auspices of the National Security Agency, tapped into the servers of Microsoft and eight other Internet companies, has vaulted the privacy debate to a whole new level. The program, code-named "Prism," might as well be called Big Brother from the way it was described. 

Just how much data should the government be allowed to survey in the name of security and are citizen's privacy rights being run over in the process?

One sentence in the Post report, quoting the source that leaked details of the so-called Prism project—which can access audio, email, video, chat, photographs, and file transfers—had people alarmed, if not scared: "They quite literally can watch your ideas form as you type."

AW+

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

Subscribe today!

To Read the Full Story Become an Adweek+ Subscriber

View Subscription Options

Already a member? Sign in