[krapp]

YCombinator is an American company which is required to obey the law and comply with the government. The 'spell' you're referring to is for the moment a matter of law.

So yes, they are under the spell of the NSA. That YC still exists and hasn't been pursued ala Lavabit suggests that any requests, if they have been received, have been complied with to the government's satisfaction.

If one doesn't trust Facebook, Google, etc on principle, there is no reason to trust YCombinator or any startup they fund, other than personal bias, because the same principles apply. No one would trust such a statement from another company. YC should be no different in that regard.

Although, as is mentioned elsewhere, HN itself doesn't keep much private data. It probably wouldn't be worth their time to do anything more than monitor this site and inject the occasional bit of propaganda.