Women use their cellphones on January 7, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden sent shockwaves around the world last year by revealing the extent of Washington's electronic eavesdropping on millions of private calls and in late December, a US judge in New York ruled the National Security Agency's mass surveillance of telephone calls lawful, igniting a legal conflict that the Supreme Court may ultimately have to resolve. This ruling came ten days after a federal judge in Washington declared that this "almost Orwellian" surveillance is probably unconstitutional, laying the groundwork for a protracted legal fight. AFP PHOTO/Frederic J. BROWN
