PRISM directive : Your videos are also being monitored

Videos among other data on PRISM list

After it was revealed that the US Government had been secretly recording data from millions of Verizon customers, further details have emerged showing the type of information being collected.

According to the Guardian, PRISM was enacted in 2007 and has monitored several of America's largest firms including Google, Microsoft and Yahoo.

Time Magazine adds further detail on what type of data has been accessed, which includes emails, photos, instant messages, videos, conferences and live surveillance of someone's individual search habits.

Companies involved in PRISM include Facebook, Youtube, Skype, Apple and AOL. However despite this revelation, companies including Google and Yahoo have flatly denied providing the government access to its servers. Microsoft, which was the first company to be added to the PRISM program issued this statement in response to Guardian's report:

"We provide customer data only when we receive a legally binding order or subpoena to do so, and never on a voluntary basis. In addition we only ever comply with orders for requests about specific accounts or identifiers. If the government has a broader voluntary national security program to gather customer data we don't participate in it."

With PRISM now in the public eye, how will people react to the revelation that their data is being monitored and in some cases used in intelligence briefings? Are we at a turning point when it comes to privacy vs government powers to access data?