There’s been a lot of talk in the news about PRISM, or “Planning Tool for Resource Integration, Synchronization, and Management.” On its surface the tool is designed to collect data about foreign intelligence being passed through American servers, allowing analysts to look at this data as plainly as you are able to send and receive it.
The good news PRISM cannot be used to intentionally target U.S. citizens. The bad news is this doesn’t mean much in stopping the people with power from abusing it. It appears the program is operating within legal boundaries allowed for by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) of 2008 and the Protect America Act of 2007. So what can you do about it? Right now it looks like nothing unless you want to stay completely off the Internet. The US government can ask any tech company for information and they are required to hand it over. Again, this technology is intended to target potential threats and keep the country safe from malicious attacks. But as of right now all the public sees is our own government spying on us, so know your Internet surfing may not be as private as you had thought.