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The initial story
The Guardian publishes initial story asserting that the NSA is collecting phone records and metadata (including numbers dialed, time, location and duration of calls) from Verizon customers in the United States under a secret FISA court order. -
PRISM makes headlines
The following day, The Washington Post comes out with another story unveiling the PRISM program (according to leaked, classified documents from what it calls a "source") in which the NSA and FBI tap into servers of U.S. Internet companies. -
Snowden revealed
NSA contractor Edward Snowden unveiled as the source of the leaks in a Guardian article. -
Snowden reports additional hacking in China
Snowden claims that the United States has also been hacking Chinese civilians since 2009, in an interview with Hong Kong's South China Morning Post. -
Snowden charged
United States Department of Justice charges Snowden with violation of the Espionage Act and theft of government property. -
Snowden officially in Moscow
Snowden formally enters Russian territory and is granted one-year, temporary asylum after staying in a Moscow airport since late June. -
Spying overseas
Reports surface that President Obama permitted U.S. intelligence agencies to monitor German Chancellor Angela Merkel's cellphone in 2010, according to documents from German news magazine Der Spiegel. -
More targets unveiled
Documents shared by the Guardian, Der Spiegel and the New York Times unveil more targets of the NSA and Britain's surveillance arm, GCHQ, including communications of European Union and other foreign officials, from 2008 to 2011. -
Obama proposes NSA reform
President Obama proposes legislative overhaul to the NSA's bulk data collection methods that would require the organization to get specific court approval before collecting phone records. -
House approves NSA bill
U.S. House of Representatives approves a bill curbing the surveillance powers of the NSA.
