In May 2013 documents came out that revealed the National Security Agency (NSA) had been spying on Americans in their daily lives by tapping their telephones and internet. An NSA subcontractor named Edward Snowden leaked these documents.

According to CNN, Snowden had been working for a private security firm that associated with the NSA for a few years when he started noticing disturbing documents that detailed the spying activities of the NSA.

Snowden copied top secret NSA documents, and on May 20, 2013, he took these documents and fled to Hong Kong. About a month later a UK newspaper, The Guardian, released some of the secret documents that Snowden gave them. In the following month, other media outlets, after obtaining some of the documents, released them to the public presumably through Snowden. These documents described an intelligence system called PRISM, which allowed for real-time information collection on American citizens. This system collects terabytes of data on American citizens through online sites like social networking.

In the past few months other documents have come to light revealing that the NSA had tapped the telephone lines of foreign leaders such as the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel. As a result of these revelations, many foreign leaders have summoned U.S. ambassadors and demanded answers to questions pertaining to PRISM. Amidst all the outrage, the U.S. prioritized finding Snowden, and federal prosecutors have filed espionage charges against him under the U.S. Espionage Act. After leaving Hong Kong, Snowden went to Russia, and the U.S. is currently trying to extradite him. Meanwhile, Snowden has also been offered asylum in several countries including Bolivia and Nicaragua. There is no doubt that Snowden has become a major headache for the U.S. government. While the U.S. government responds, the American public, as well as the foreign public, awaits the outcome of the situation.