Tech Companies Concede to Surveillance Program  —  SAN FRANCISCO — When government officials came to Silicon Valley to demand easier ways for the world's largest Internet companies to turn over user data as part of a secret surveillance program, the companies bristled.  In the end, though, many cooperated at least a bit.

What the ...?  —  You may be aware of press reports alleging that Internet companies have joined a secret U.S. government program called PRISM to give the National Security Agency direct access to our servers.  As Google's CEO and Chief Legal Officer, we wanted you to have the facts.

U.S. Internet spying foiled plot to attack NY subways - sources  —  (Reuters) - A secret U.S. intelligence program to collect emails that is at the heart of an uproar over government surveillance helped foil an Islamist militant plot to bomb the New York City subway system in 2009, U.S. government sources said on Friday.

Administration Says Mining of Data Is Crucial to Fight Terror  —  WASHINGTON — In early September 2009, an e-mail passed through an Internet address in Peshawar, Pakistan, that was being monitored by the vast computers controlled by American intelligence analysts.  It set off alarms.

Dem.  Senator disputes Obama's claim that Congress was briefed  —  Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) on Friday disputed a claim President Obama made at a press conference only moments earlier, when the president said that every member of Congress had been briefed on the National Security Agency's (NSA) domestic phone surveillance program.

Public Documents Contradict Claim Email Spying Foiled Terror Plot  —  Defenders of “PRISM” say it stopped subway bombings.  But British and American court documents suggest old-fashioned police work nabbed Zazi.  —  Would-be subway bomber Najibullah Zazi.  —  Via: Marc Piscotty / Getty Images

Government likely to open criminal probe into NSA leaks: officials  —  (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's administration is likely to open a criminal investigation into the leaking of highly classified documents that revealed the secret surveillance of Americans' telephone and email traffic, U.S. officials said on Friday.