[a_imho]

The infiltration is especially striking because the NSA, under a separate program known as PRISM, has front-door access to Google and Yahoo user accounts through a court-approved process.

I don't know. Maybe it is easier than going to court all the time? Who knows?

[stuckagain]

Snowden didn't reveal anything even suggesting this "front door access". He's got some PowerPoint slides that say prism and some that have Google logo on them. All meaning of these materials has been supplied by internet conspiracy theorists.