4 ms·

They paid for Prism compliance. The Prism program entails access to the data.

• diminoten 13y ago
  Since when does 'access' mean 'direct access'?
  • joshfraser 13y ago
    Remember when Gmail got hacked by the Chinese? It was reported at the time that they were using the interface that Google had set up for the US government to get access to user emails. They don't need a warrant to view email headers or emails that are more than 6 months old. Link: http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/01/23/schneier.google.hacking/index.html http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/01/23/schneier.google.hackin...
    • diminoten 13y ago
      > They don't need a warrant to view email headers or emails that are more than 6 months old. Interesting you say that, because in the article you linked, it says this: > In order to comply with government search warrants on user data Can you explain this discrepancy?
      • falk 13y ago
        Read these for more information on the six months rule. It's rather ridiculous and I didn't believe it when I first heard about it. http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/10/ecpa-turns-twenty-five/ http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/10/ecpa-turns-twenty-f... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stored_Communications_Act http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stored_Communications_Act
        • diminoten 13y ago
          Okay, but how does this make Google incapable of saying they didn't know the NSA had direct access to their data?
          • rhizome 13y ago
            Because they, and the other companies who used the exact same terminology, never said what they meant by "direct."
            • diminoten 13y ago
              You'll have to really connect the dots for me here, I guess I'm just not getting how the 6 month rule has anything to do with the meaning of "direct".
  • kaonashi 13y ago
    Since when does using the weasel word 'direct' entail any functional difference?
    • diminoten 13y ago
      Since 'direct' means 'without Google interaction'. It's a different scenario if the government just goes into your email and pulls your info, vs. if they request the info and Google has the ability to deny/verify validity of the request.
      • kaonashi 13y ago
        Is that what direct implies in this context? AFAIK it was never defined; i.e. having access to a bit-for-bit copy of their database wouldn't necessarily be 'direct'.
        • diminoten 13y ago
          It's defined by the English meaning of the term. If there are layers between you and something, that is not direct. The end.