U.S. Tech Companies Ask Governments to Reform Surveillance Practices

U.S. Tech Companies Ask Governments to Reform Surveillance Practices - by now I think most of us have heard the news.  Plus we have all heard of the many examples of US Surveillance Practices as it pertains to cell phones, emails, and the long list of actions.

Eight top tech companies in the U.S. have asked governments around the world to reform surveillance laws and practices, and asked the U.S. to take the lead. Should the US take the lead, or as being the largest surveillance organization have the lead?

AOL, Apple, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Twitter, Yahoo and Microsoft said Monday that they understand that governments need to take action to protect their citizens' safety and security, but "strongly believe that current laws and practices need to be reformed." Internet companies have been at the focus of disclosures through newspapers from June by former U.S. National Security Agency contractor, Edward Snowden, which suggested that the agency had real-time access to content on the servers of some Internet companies and was also tapping into the communications links between the data centers of Yahoo and Google.

The companies deny complicity in the NSA's dragnet surveillance, and some have asked permission from the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to disclose aggregate information on security requests for user data under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

The latest move appears to be one of a number by the Internet companies to highlight that they are on the side of the user, and to bring pressure on governments, particularly of the U.S. Facebook, AOL, Apple, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo wrote in October to the chairman and members of a U.S. Committee on the Judiciary, demanding that the surveillance practices of the U.S. should be reformed to enhance privacy protections and provide "appropriate oversight and accountability mechanisms."

Then these tech companies are working on ways to encrypt traffic between data centers, users, and applications.  So as the security and technology borders continue to shift, are we taking steps to make it more difficult for government agencies to protect us, and giving safe haven to terrorists?  Where do you draw the line of balance between privacy, security, and national best interest. 

I agree that the world has changed, and threats everyday have changed at both a national level and a personal level.  Each of us has threats against us each day, credit card fraud, identity theft, email malware and the list goes on.  We do risk management each day and may not realize it.  So it is a very real topic for all of us to discuss and get involved with.  Appropriate for these tech companies to get involved?  Should there be an independent advisor board to influence Washington on this topic - perhaps independent IT experts? 

I think we need to take our time, look at the right approach and proceed with caution.  We are quickly loosing our freedoms, and that is a worry.

Keep it positive!

Scott Arnett
scott@arnettservicesgroup.com
www.arnettservicesgoup.com