U.S. government admits to massive online spying

James Clapper, U.S. director of national intelligence, called the surveillance of personal information from various companies limited, and said leaking details hurts security. (Reuters)

Intelligence groups scouring foreign emails, chats and other data

The U.S. government has been secretly collecting emails, chats and other personal information about foreigners from companies including Facebook, Google and Apple, officials admit.

The secret program, revealed at first by the Washington Post and the Guardian newspapers, said the FBI and the National Security Agency can scour data including emails, chats, stored files, video and audio to help analysts track a person's movements and contacts.

Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, PalTalk, AOL, Skype, YouTube and Apple are all said to be part of the program —known as Prism. Most have denied giving the government access to their data.

Late Thursday, James Clapper, U.S. director of national intelligence,confirmed the existence of Prism and another recently revealed surveillance program — under which Verizon handed over the phone records of U.S. customers — in an effort to tamp down the public uproar.

Clapper denounced the leaks, insisting both programs were legal and necessary for U.S. security, even as he took the rare step of declassifying and releasing key details.

“The unauthorized disclosure of a top secret U.S. court document threatens potentially long-lasting and irreversible harm to our ability to identify and respond to the many threats facing our nation," he said.

"I believe it is important for the American people to understand the limits of this targeted counterterrorism program and the principles that govern its use," Clapper added.

Officials defend programs

Clapper alleged articles about Prism "contain numerous inaccuracies," though he did not offer specifics.

Senior administration officials defended both programs as critical tools and said the intelligence they yield is among the most valuable data the U.S. collects.

Clapper said Prism can't be used to intentionally target any Americans or anyone in the U.S.

He said a special court, Congress and the executive branch all oversee the program, and that data accidentally collected about Americans is kept to a minimum.

The possibility of a third secret program letting the NSA tap into credit card transaction records emerged late Thursday in the Wall Street Journal report.

The White House did not immediately respond to an inquiry about that program.

The Obama administration has been under fire recently for surveillance-related scandals, including the seizure of journalists' phone records and the Internal Revenue Service's improper targeting of conservative groups.