FRONTLINE reveals the dramatic inside story of how the U.S. government came to monitor and collect the communications of millions of people around the world, and the lengths they went to as they tried to hide this massive surveillance program from the public. The series is gripping viewing for those who want to understand the context of the Snowden affair—and what it means for all Americans.
Last year Edward Snowden downloaded tens of thousands of top-secret documents from a highly secure government computer network. The revelations that followed touched off a fierce debate over the massive surveillance operations conducted by the National Security Agency. Through exclusive interviews with intelligence insiders, cabinet officials, and government whistle-blowers, the film reveals how the U.S. government came to monitor the communications of millions of Americans and to collect billions of records on ordinary people around the world.