Under Pressure, Feds Declassify Part of Spying Scheme
See, it's not so bad ... well ... compared to something worse
The National Security Agency's classified PRISM program is an internal government computer system used to manage foreign intelligence collected from Internet and other electronic service providers, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said in a statement Saturday.
The disclosure Saturday marks the most extensive explanation the government has offered of what the program is, how it works and what it is authorized to collect.
Clapper said he declassified the details of the NSA's surveillance and intelligence collection programs "in hope that it will help dispel some of the myths and add necessary context to what has been published" about government surveillance of Americans' phone records and foreigners' Internet use.
