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Next Week: How Silicon Valley Feeds the NSA’s Global Dragnet

Next Week: How Silicon Valley Feeds the NSA’s Global Dragnet
Next Week: How Silicon Valley Feeds the NSA’s Global Dragnet

By

Sarah Childress

May 13, 2014

You’ve seen the history of how the Bush administration launched an unprecedented surveillance campaign after 9/11 at the National Security Agency, and how Obama later expanded what had become known as “The Program.”

Now find out how the NSA got all that data.

On May 20, FRONTLINE continues the story of mass surveillance in America in part two of United States of Secrets, an investigation into the secret relationship between Silicon Valley and the National Security Agency.

Companies like Google and Facebook gather massive amounts of data on its users around the world, which they use to sell and create advertisements. To the U.S. government, it is a treasure-trove of information that regularly reveals what we do, who we know and where we go.

The revelations by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden helped to uncover the role the tech industry played — at times unwittingly, but often with consent — in the NSA’s massive dragnet.

So how did the tech giants react when the government asked them to turn over data on millions of ordinary American citizens? And how much do companies like Google, Facebook and Yahoo really know about you?

Find out on May 20 starting at 10 p.m. EST on most PBS stations. (Check local listings.) Watch the trailer above.

U.S. Politics
Sarah Childress

Former Series Senior Editor, FRONTLINE

Journalistic Standards

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FRONTLINE is a registered trademark of WGBH Educational Foundation. Web Site Copyright ©1995-2025 WGBH Educational Foundation. PBS is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.

Funding for FRONTLINE is provided through the support of PBS viewers and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Additional funding is provided by the Abrams Foundation; Park Foundation; the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; and the FRONTLINE Journalism Fund with major support from Jon and Jo Ann Hagler on behalf of the Jon L. Hagler Foundation, and additional support from Koo and Patricia Yuen. FRONTLINE is a registered trademark of WGBH Educational Foundation. Web Site Copyright ©1995-2025 WGBH Educational Foundation. PBS is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.

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