Here's Everything Microsoft Is Letting the Government See

Philip Bump and Rebecca Greenfield | The Atlantic Wire | July 11, 2013

For the first time, The Guardian is detailing how a tech company works with the National Security Agency to share user information under the NSA's PRISM program. Unfortunately, that tech company happens to be Microsoft, the one that makes the operating system used on 92 percent of computers in the world.

The tone of the report (and Microsoft's statement about it) contrasts significantly with what the company said when PRISM was revealed. The Guardian, using documents obtained from NSA leaker Edward Snowden, paints Microsoft as a compliant partner in creating windows and doors in their software for the government to access.

Before we get to the mechanics, we'll answer the obvious: Which Microsoft products are covered? Primarily the web-based ones. There are three specific Microsoft services that the NSA has privileged access to: Outlook, SkyDrive, and Skype. Given the revelations, here's a service-by-service breakdown of what's probably not safe from the NSA's prying eyes: