On February 6, 2013 the Washington Post reported the National Security Agency and FBI are tapping into the central servers of nine leading U.S. Internet companies, extracting audio and video chats, photographs, e-mail, documents, and connection logs that enable analysts to track foreign targets. The program, code-named PRISM, has not been made public until today.
The President defended his administration's practices saying the programs are under strict supervision by all three branches of government.
Today Americans with communication services PAY US COMPANIES FOR THEM. If the government wants unfettered access to our records, and we shouldn't expect privacy, they should pay for them. It's bad enough US companies bill Americans for services and use our data for their own purposes.