The NSA has been secretly tracking users on Facebook for years

Article from Ars Technica:

The National Security Agency (NSA) has been secretly tracking users on Facebook for years, according to leaked documents obtained by The Washington Post and the Guardian. The tracking involves a program called PRISM, which was designed to collect data on social media users across various platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

The NSA's collection efforts were revealed earlier this year as part of the Snowden documents leak, but the extent of its surveillance on Facebook was not previously known. According to the leaked documents, the NSA collected data on users' activities on the platform, including posts, photos, and messages.

The NSA's use of PRISM for social media surveillance raises serious privacy concerns. The NSA has been accused of collecting vast amounts of personal information about millions of citizens without their consent, and the Snowden documents reveal that this collection is not limited to just the United States.

Facebook, which has long been criticized for its own data collection practices, has denied any knowledge of the PRISM program or any other surveillance efforts by the NSA. However, the leaked documents suggest that the company was fully aware of the surveillance and actively cooperated with the NSA to provide access to user data.

The NSA's social media surveillance is just one example of the vast amounts of personal information it collects about individuals around the world. The Snowden documents reveal that the agency has also been collecting data on internet searches, emails, and other online activities.

The extent of the NSA's surveillance raises serious questions about privacy and government oversight. Many argue that the agency's collection efforts are too broad and indiscriminate, and that individuals have a right to privacy regardless of their location or nationality.

The Snowden documents also reveal that other countries, including Britain, China, and France, have been engaging in similar surveillance practices. This raises concerns about the global impact of surveillance and the need for international standards to protect individual privacy.