The NSA paid Google and Facebook millions to spy on taxpayers

By Brian Fung, Published: August 23 at 2:30 pm

NSA’s digital private eyes are watching you if you send text communications outside the country. (Patrick Semansky / AP)

The National Security Agency reimbursed some of the nation’s top tech companies for participating in its PRISM surveillance program, according to new leaked government documents. Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and Facebook all received payments after the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court ruled some of the NSA’s surveillance to be unconstitutional.

The new revelations, first reported byThe Guardian, put a financial spin on what until now has mostly been a question of civil liberties. Although a Yahoo spokesperson said the government is supposed to reimburse companies for cooperating with federal surveillance requests, the other tech companies either denied receiving the money or refused to respond directly to the accusations.

Some critics fear that the shadow revenue flowing to the private sector could create a perverse incentive for tech companies.

“The line you have to watch for . . . is the difference between reimbursement for complying with a lawful order and actually a profit-making enterprise,” said Michelle Richards, legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union’s told The Hill.

Google and Microsoft have asked the government for permission to disclose the aggregate numbers behind the NSA’s secret surveillance requests. However, since the companies filed those suits, the Justice Department has asked for (and received) an extension of the deadline six times. It’s unclear whether the government can simply continue deferring indefinitely.