The National Security Agency has obtained access to the systems of Google, Facebook, Apple, Yahoo, Microsoft and other Internet firms, giving the government the ability to collect emails, search history and live chats of users around the world. Details about the PRISM program were first published in The Guardian and The Washington Post. The disclosure came one day after The Guardian revealed the Obama administration is collecting telephone records of millions of Verizon business customers. According to a new report in The Wall Street Journal, the scope of the NSA program also includes customers of AT&T and Sprint. In addition, the Journal reports the NSA is collecting details about credit card transactions. On Thursday, Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Dianne Feinstein defended the government’s actions.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein: “As far as I know, this is the exact three-month renewal of what has been the case for the past seven years. This renewal is carried out by the [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance] Court under the business records section of the PATRIOT Act, therefore it is lawful.”