This posting offers some interesting insight into why tech companies seem to have so easily rolled over and given the US government access to their customers' data. "We know what happened in the case of QWest before 9/11. They contacted the CEO/Chairman asking to wiretap all the customers. After he consulted with Legal, he refused. As a result, NSA canceled a bunch of unrelated billion dollar contracts that QWest was the top bidder for. And then the DoJ targeted him and prosecuted him and put him in prison for insider trading -- on the theory that he knew of anticipated income from secret programs that QWest was planning for the government, while the public didn't because it was classified and he couldn't legally tell them, and then he bought or sold QWest stock knowing those things. This CEO's name is Joseph P. Nacchio and TODAY he's still serving a trumped-up 6-year federal prison sentence today for quietly refusing an NSA demand to massively wiretap his customers." https://mailman.stanford.edu/pipermail/liberationtech/2013-June/008815.html Not too different to what happened to Elliot Spitzer after he went after Wall St bankers a little too enthusiastic ally. The authorities suddenly developed an intense interest in his activities. This is a non-partisan issue and goes back a long way. Kennedy went after his opponents using the IRS, as did Nixon.