Tech giants escalate surveillance fight
Rivals band together to urge tighter control of government spying
WASHINGTON — Silicon Valley is escalating pressure on President Barack Obama to curb the U.S. government surveillance programs that vacuum personal information off the Internet and threaten the technology industry’s financial livelihood.
A coalition that includes Google, Apple, Yahoo, Facebook and Microsoft lashed out in an open letter printed Monday in newspapers and a new website, http://reformgovernmentsurveillance.com.
The crusade united eight companies that often compete against each other but now find themselves banding together to limit the potential damage from revelations about the National Security Agency’s snooping on Web surfers.
Twitter Inc., LinkedIn Corp. and AOL Inc. joined Google Inc., Apple Inc., Yahoo Inc., Facebook Inc. and Microsoft Corp. in the push for tighter controls over electronic espionage. The group is immersed in the lives of just about everyone who uses the Internet or a computing device.
As the companies’ services and products have become more ingrained in society, they have become integral cogs in the economy. Their prosperity also provides them with the cash to pay for lobbyists and fund campaign contributions that sway public policy.
Monday’s public relations offensive is a byproduct of documents leaked over the past six months by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. The records reveal that the NSA has been obtaining emails and other personal data from tech companies under secret court orders for the past five years and scooping up other data through unauthorized hacking into data centers.
Silicon Valley has been fighting back in the courts and in Congress as they seek reforms that would allow them to disclose more information about secret court orders. Several of the companies are also introducing more encryption technology to shield their users’ data from government spies and other prying eyes.
Monday’s letter and the new anti-snooping website represent the technology industry’s latest salvo o counter any perception that they voluntarily give the government access to users’ email and other sensitive information.
Although the campaign is ostensibly directed at governments around the world, the United States is clearly the main tar- get.
“The balance in many countries has tipped too far in favor of the state and away from the rights of the individual — rights that are enshrined in our Constitution,” the letter said. “This undermines the freedoms we all cherish. It’s time for a change.”
Civil liberties aren’t the only thing at stake. One of the reasons the technology companies have become a rich vein for crimefighting authorities is that they store vast amounts of personal data as part of their efforts to tailor services and target advertising.
By analyzing search requests, Web-surfing habits, social networking posts and the content of emails, the companies are able to determine the type of digital ads to show individual users. The NSA revelations have raised fears that people might shy away from Internet services or share less information about themselves. Such a shift would make it more difficult for companies to increase ad revenue and boost their stock prices.
In a statement, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer said the NSA disclosures had “shaken the trust of our users.”
Google CEO Larry Page and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, two of the richest people in the world, also chimed with statements urging the United States to adopt reforms to protect personal information.
U.S. intelligence officials have defended the electronic espionage, contending the NSA’s tactics have helped disrupt terror attacks. Officials also insist that the agency takes care not to look at the content of conversations or messages by U.S. citizens.