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Americans Defy Surveillance Society: Tech Companies Reassessing How They Respond To Government Data Requests (video and pictures)
In a sign that consumer concerns about the level of government surveillance of electronic media are having an impact on the nation’s tech giants, Facebook, Google and many other technology companies are reportedly rethinking and reforming how they respond to government requests for private customer data.
According to the Washington Post on Friday, companies are becoming increasingly defiant of orders to deliver customer information and more transparent in terms of informing their users about these requests.
The Post reports:
Fueling the shift is the industry’s eagerness to distance itself from the government after last year’s disclosures about National Security Agency surveillance of online services. Apple, Microsoft, Facebook and Google all are updating their policies to expand routine notification of users about government data seizures, unless specifically gagged by a judge or other legal authority, officials at all four companies said. Yahoo announced similar changes in July.
As this position becomes uniform across the industry, U.S. tech companies will ignore the instructions stamped on the fronts of subpoenas urging them not to alert subjects about data requests, industry lawyers say. Companies that already routinely notify users have found that investigators often drop data demands to avoid having suspects learn of inquiries.
“It serves to chill the unbridled, cost-free collection of data,” said Albert Gidari Jr., a partner at Perkins Coie who represents several technology companies. “And I think that’s a good thing.” MOREHERE
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