Spy scandal to impact talks on EU-US data treaty
Classified documents obtained by the Washington Post and The Guardian reveal that the National Security Agency, a US intelligence-gathering body, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are secretly tapping into the servers of Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, PalTalk, AOL, Skype, YouTube and Apple. The program – called Prism – is the latest in a series of secret data gathering schemes put in place after 9/11. 

NSA, FBI Tapped 9 Internet Companies
It’s all coming out now. The Washington Post reports that the National Security Agency and the FBI have been tapping into the central servers of nine top U.S. Internet companies in a highly classified program code-named PRISM that began in 2007. 

Remember When Dems Supported Obama’s Extension Of The Patriot Act?
Two senators — two Democratic senators — are asking the Obama administration to disclose surveillance powers under the Patriot Act, saying citizens would be “stunned” to learn what the government says it can do. 

NSA’s Verizon Spying Order Specifically Targeted Americans, Not Foreigners
the latest revelation of the extent of the NSA’s surveillance shows that it has focused specifically on Americans, to the degree that its data collection has in at least one major spying incident explicitly excluded those outside the United States. 

US ‘orders Verizon to disclose millions of phone records’
The US National Security Agency (NSA) is collecting the telephone records of tens of millions of Americans, according to the Guardian newspaper. The British paper published what it said was a secret court order directing the Verizon company to hand over electronic data on all its customers on an “ongoing daily basis”. Civil liberties groups said the details of the report were “stunning”.

Now FBI wants back door to all software
The FBI is unhappy that there are communications technologies that it cannot intercept, and wants a new requirement that software makers and communications companies create a back door so they can listen in when they want. But a team of technology experts warns that would be nothing more than handing over to the nation’s enemies abilities they are not capable of developing for themselves.  

David Petraeus At Bilderberg to Craft “Big Data” Spy Grid
Former CIA Director David Petraeus is in attendance at the 2013 Bilderberg Group conference to help construct the “big data” spy grid, which is set to become the new frontier of clandestine statecraft as Internet connectivity becomes ubiquitous. 

Poll: 56% Believe Feds Threaten Individual Rights
A wide majority of Americans – 56 percent – said they see the government as a threat to individual rights, while only 30 percent see the federal government as a protector of individual rights. Overall, 70 percent of Americans say they have followed reports about the DOJ either very or somewhat closely.