In 2013, classified US government information was leaked to major media outlets. The information revealed massive surveillance of millions of civilians, including US citizens, undertaken by the National Security Agency (NSA) and its British counterpart, the Government Communications Quarters (GCHQ), and distributed the collected information to other government agencies, such as the CIA and FBI. This was not the first time that a US government agency was caught spying on US citizens. For example, a program that ran from 1945 to 1978, run by the Armed Forces Security Agency (AFSA) and its successor, the NSA, analyzed all telegrams entering and leaving the United States, or the project MINARET, in which more than 1,600 American citizens were targeted. for being anti-war in the 1960s, and included spying on prominent figures such as Martin Luther King and Muhammad Ali. Today, however, the NSA has access to more information than ever before, in a digital age where millions of people in the United States use the Internet, driven by the rise of smartphones and tablets. . The NSA entered into agreements with and forced companies to participate in the PRISM surveillance program. Huge companies have participated in this program, including AT&T, Verizon, Apple, Google, Yahoo, Facebook, AOL, Microsoft and many others, and these companies are some of the most valuable companies the world has ever known, both in terms of money and data. they have access. The NSA has also conducted other programs and claims these efforts are aimed at preventing future terrorist attacks; the programs aim to protect the nation. However, the legality of their actions is questionable to say the least. Ultimately, it's about privacy and security. Unfortunately for the NSA, privacy is important in this situation...... middle of article...... Collecting metadata is blatantly illegal. "Forbes. Forbes Magazine, January 24, 2014. Web. March 2, 2014. Ackerman, Spencer. "Senators to probe NSA role in GCHQ webcam spying" Theguardian.com Guardian News and Media, February 28 2014. Web. Optical nerve: millions of Yahoo webcam images intercepted by GCHQ. Guardian News and Media, February 28, 2014. Web. March 2, 2014 “NSA Spying Risks $35 Billion in U.S. Tech Sales.” Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg, March 2, 2014. Jarvis, Jeff. “How Much Data Does the NSA Really Get?” » Theguardian.com Guardian News and Media, August 13, 2013. Web March 2, 2014. "NSA infiltrates links to Yahoo, Google data centers worldwide, Snowden documents say." The Washington Post, November 1, 2013. Web March 8.. 2014.