General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Greenwald's Latest - He is counter punching to great effect! [View all]marions ghost
(19,841 posts)"It seems to me that the "direct access" kerfluffle was unnecessary obfuscation, and that the internet companies were telling the truth that they don't let the FBI/NSA hack directly into their servers. Because such access is unnecessary when you can harvest the metadata "in transit" instead and work from that. So it's good that there seems to be an emerging consensus among real experts (not Greenwald) that it's the tier 1 networks and international switches that are the lynchpin of the intelligence efforts."
In other words, I think it may be correct to see the Vanity Fair article as largely a propaganda piece.
The real truth--and this will be verified IMO--is that there are no legal protections much at all.
I will stick by my original statement--that PRISM can do anything it wants anywhere. The whole Verizon data-mining thing PALES in comparison to the implications of the PRISM system.