PRISM: Facebook and Google deny knowledge of top secret government spying initiative Mark Zuckerberg and Larry Page both issued strong statements over recent media reports Apple also denied any knowledge of the program's existence Both said that their company has no link to the controversial scheme The UK has had access to the PRISM data since at least 2010 Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has strongly denied any link between his website and a controversial US internet monitoring programme. Zuckerberg posted a message last night describing reports linking Facebook to the secret PRISM system as 'outrageous'. He said that he had not even heard of PRISM until reports broke on Thursday and vowed to fight 'aggressively' to keep users' details secure. Denials: Both Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, left, and Google CEO Larry Page, right, issued statements distancing their companies from the controversial PRISM scheme Storage space: NSA's Utah Data Center in Bluffdale, Utah, where government records of citizen's phone and internet usage could be kept Google CEO Larry Page echoed Zuckerberg's denial as he issued a statement distancing his company from the scheme. The search engine's chief lawyer David Drummond also said that media reports linking Google to PRISM were false. In the post that has been 'liked' more than 280,000 times, Zuckerberg, 29, wrote: 'I want to respond personally to the outrageous press reports about PRISM. Facebook is not and has never been part of any program to give the US or any other government direct access to our servers. When governments ask Facebook for data, we review each request carefully to make sure they always follow the correct processes and all applicable laws, and then only provide the information if is required by law. We will continue fighting aggressively to keep your information safe and secure. Google executive Mr Drummond said in a blog post entitled 'What the...?' No knowledge: Internet giant Google said that it had never heard of the PRISM scheme before reports broke this week He said: 'Press reports that suggest that Google is providing open-ended access to our users" data are false, period. 'Until this week's reports, we had never heard of the broad type of order that Verizon received - an order that appears to have required them to hand over millions of users" call records. We were very surprised to learn that such broad orders exist. Any suggestion that Google is disclosing information about our users" Internet activity on such a scale is completely false. A spokesperson for Apple also denied any knowledge of PRISM's existence. The denials come a day after President Obama delivered a passionate defense of national security programs that secretly acquire information about Americans' phone calls, saying criticism of them is all 'hype.' Computer giant: Apple also said that it had never heard of the PRISM program until now He said: 'My assessment and my team's assessment was that [the programs] help us prevent terrorist attacks and that the modest encroachments on privacy that are involved in getting phone numbers or duration [of calls] without a name attached... It was worth us doing. Obama made the remarks at a press conference in response to revelations about two separate programs used to spy on American citizens and foreign nationals. One program involves the collection of U.S. Verizon customers phone records. The other program - dubbed PRISM - allows the government to scour the Internet usage of foreign nationals overseas who use any of nine U.S.-based internet providers such as Microsoft and Google. 'I think it's important to understand that you can't have 100 percent security and then have 100 percent privacy and zero inconvenience,' Obama said. 'We're going to have to make some choices as a society.' Obama said the PRISM program does not involve monitoring the email content of U.S. citizens or anyone living in the U.S., and he repeatedly stated that both programs - the phone spying and PRISM - have been approved by Congress. President Obama delivered a passionate defense on Friday of national security programs that secretly acquire information about Americans' phone calls 'You can complain about "big brother" and how this is a potential program run amuck,' he added, 'but when you actually look at the details then I think we've stuck the right balance' 'You can complain about "big brother" and how this is a potential program run amuck,' Obama added, 'but when you actually look at the details, then I think we've stuck the right balance.' Obama said the programs have plenty of checks in place, including repeated authorizations by Congress and approval by the Foreign Surveillance Intelligence Court, to assure no abuses by the government. 'Nobody is listening to your telephone calls,' he said. 'That's not what this program's about.' If U.S. citizens decide they want to axe the programs, Obama 'welcomes' that debate, he said. But at the same time, he expressed concern over the fact that the classified programs were leaked to the media. 'I don't welcome leaks, because there's a reason why these programs are classified,' he said. The Washington Post reported Friday that for the past six years, U.S. intelligence agencies have been extracting audio, video, photos, e-mails, documents and other information to track people's movements and contacts. It was claimed that the Silicon Valley companies involved in the PRISM program are Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, YouTube, Skype, AOL and the lesser known Internet company PalTalk, which has hosted a lot of traffic during the Arab Spring and the on-going Syrian civil war. The scandal deepened after it emerged that the Silicon Valley Internet giants may have been passing the acquired information on to the UK. The Guardian reported that GCHQ, the UK's communications intelligence agency, has had access to data collected through PRISM program since at least June 2010, and last year generated 197 intelligence reports from it. The Guardian also first reported the phone-spying program, through which the NSA has been collecting information on Verizon customers' phone calls, including call duration and frequency. The revelations - which are the largest anti-terror intelligence-gathering operation since 9/11 - have placed massive pressure on Obama, who is already reeling from the recent IRS scandal. I know what you're doing this summer: This unfortunate picture, taken yesterday as news of the scandal broke, will prove a trifle embarrassing for Barack Obama, whose administration defended the order, calling it 'a critical tool in protecting the nation from terrorist threats' Twitter, which is known for zealously protecting its users' privacy, is conspicuous in its absence from the list of Internet companies said to be involved in the data-mining program. But former President George W. Bush issued an executive order shortly after the September 11, 2001, attacks in New York that authorized the NSA to monitor certain phone calls without permission. The warrantless wiretapping program remained a secret until 2005, when a whistleblower went to the press to reveal the extent of the surveillance. The particulars of the revelations were outlined in a top-secret PowerPoint presentation for senior intelligence analysts, which ended up being leaked to The Post and Britain's The Guardian. According to the Post, maintaining the secrecy of the Silicon Valley giants who have been complicit in the scheme is of utmost importance to the U.S. government. '98 percent of PRISM production is based on Yahoo, Google and Microsoft; we need to make sure we don't harm these sources,' and NSA official wrote in a document obtained by the Post. PRISM has been described by NSA officials 'as the most prolific contributor to the president's Daily Brief' and the 'leading source of raw material,' the Post also reported. Targets: The tech giants involved in involved in PRISM are Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, YouTube, Skype, AOL and the lesser known Internet company PalTalk Director of National Intelligence James Clapper denounced the disclosure of highly secret documents Thursday and sought to set the record straight about how the government collects intelligence about people's telephone and Internet use.