14 DAY TRIAL // In honor of the “Reset the Net” campaign urging Internet users to take things into their own hands and encrypt their own communications, US tech giants are taking another hit at the lawmakers that are supposed to protect people’s right to privacy.
Facebook, Google, Microsoft and several other top tech companies have signed an open letter to the Senate, warning members not to follow in the footsteps of House members, who have compromised the plan to reform the National Security Agency.
Nine major companies have published an open letter asking for the Senate to limit the NSA’s powers. “It’s been a year since the first headlines alleging the extent of government surveillance on the Internet. We understand that governments have a duty to protect their citizens. But the balance in many countries has tipped too far in favor of the state and away from the rights of the individual. This undermines the freedoms we all cherish, and it must change,” starts off the letter.
The tech giants have gently pointed out that while they’ve been doing their best to strengthen security of their service because of what the NSA has been doing, and taking steps to increase transparency, the government hasn’t really done much.
The time is not lost, however, and the US Senate still has the chance to give proof of leadership and pass a version of the USA Freedom Act that will actually prove useful for Internet users around the world, and not the watered down version that the House agreed on.
“Unfortunately, the version that just passed the House of Representatives could permit bulk collection of Internet ‘metadata’ (e.g. who you email and who emails you), something that the Administration and Congress said they intended to end. Moreover, while the House bill permits some transparency, it is critical to our customers that the bill allow companies to provide even greater detail about the number and type of government requests they receive for customer information,” the letter reads.
Finally, the nine tech giants point out that it is in everyone’s best interest to resolve these issues since confidence in the Internet, both in the United States and internationally, has been badly damaged.
The letter is signed by Larry Page (Google), Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Satya Nadella (Microsoft), Marissa Mayer (Yahoo), Dick Costolo (Twitter), Drew Houston (Dropbox), Tim Cook (Apple), Tim Armstrong (AOL), and Jeff Weiner (LinkedIn.)