What it looks like when the NSA hacks into your Gmail and Facebook

Tony Fullman, a New Zealand citizen who was born in Fiji, had the contents of his Facebook and various Gmail accounts intercepted by the NSA, the Intercept reports, based on documents provided by whistleblower Edward Snowden. 

It's an ironic story - Fullman was at the time a pro-democracy activist who opposed Fiji's military ruler. But New Zealand spies suspected he was plotting a violent revolution in Fiji, so spy operations from the NSA and New Zealand turned his life upside down. His foundation's telephones were bugged in 2012, his Australia home was raided by police, and his passport was confiscated.  

During this time, New Zealand spies asked the NSA to intercept Fullman's communications through his Gmail accounts and his Facebook account.

The NSA used the Prism program to do so. Prism was the second major revelation to come out of the Snowden leaks. A leaked slide suggests that US spies were able to directly access data from firms like Google, Facebook, and Yahoo. 

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote in 2013 that "Facebook is not and has never been part of any program to give the US or any other government direct access to our servers." Google has also denied that it is in "cahoots with the NSA."

Even with the intercepted communications, no evidence turned up suggesting Fullman was plotting to overthrow the Fiji government. 

But now we have a look at what Prism can access in someone's Gmail or Facebook account. Here's what the spies saw: