Edward Snowden's 2013 leak revealed PRISM, a secret NSA program operational since 2007 under the Protect America Act. PRISM granted the NSA direct access to the servers of nine major tech companies — Google, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, Yahoo, Skype, YouTube, AOL, and PalTalk — allowing the agency to collect emails, chats, photos, and stored data without users' knowledge. Intelligence chief James Clapper had told Congress the NSA was 'not wittingly' collecting data on Americans, a statement proven false.