This past week private search engine DuckDuckGo recorded their best week ever for traffic. The website, which does not record user’s clicks, provides a service for those who wish to browse the Internet away from the prying eyes of the government or Google.
In the wake of the recent PRISM scandal, which has sent the Internet into a frenzy over privacy concerns, DuckDuckGo has seen its individual hits soar. The search engine, whose motto reads ‘Search anonymously. Find instantly’, received 2.35 million search queries on Wednesday, up 26% on the previous Wednesday, and 2.5 million search queries on Thursday, a 33% increase over the previous Thursday.

Read more: DuckDuckGo receives record traffic following PRISM scandal

“Google has nothing to hide.”
That’s the key message Google’s Chief Legal Officer, David Drummond, tried to communicate in an open letter to United States Attorney General Eric Holder and FBI Director Robert Mueller.

Read more: Google asks the U.S. to lift gag order on national security requests

With just days to spare, and as one analyst expected, Apple blinked in negotiations with Sony Music, giving the Cupertino, Calif. firm the green light to announce an Internet radio service on Monday, several reports said Friday.
Last-minute hitches could still stymie an announcement, however. Reports on Saturday said the labels and Apple had yet to agree on payments for skipped songs.

Read more: Apple blinks, inks deals with labels in time to intro 'iRadio' on Monday

Microsoft says it is not a direct participant in a data retrieval program by the US government that has been going on for years but has only just now come to light. The story was first broken by the Washington Post, which says that the National Security Agency and the FBI have been taking data such as emails, phone calls, documents and more from the main servers of Microsoft and other major technology companies like Google, Yahoo, Facebook, and Microsoft's Skype service.
The Washington Post's article states that the program is called PRISM and has been underway for the past several years. The article claims that Microsoft was in fact the first company that was "recruited" to be a part of the program.

Read more: Microsoft denies participating in US online intelligence gathering efforts