Microsoft, Google, Apple Deny Government 'direct access' to Servers
engine
11:10 am on Jun 7, 2013 (gmt 0)
Major tech companies including Apple Inc, Google and Facebook Inc on Thursday said they do not provide any government agency with "direct access" to their servers, contradicting a Washington Post report that they have granted such access under a classified data collection program.
The newspaper reported that the U.S. National Security Agency and the FBI are "tapping directly into the central servers of nine leading U.S. Internet companies" through a secret program known as PRISM, and extracting massive amounts of data including audio, video, photographs, emails, documents and connection logs.
Why is this in Foo? Why isn't it a featured front page discussion? I think we all know the answer to that. Carry on.
piatkow
1:07 pm on Jun 7, 2013 (gmt 0)
Doesn't say that they aren't making the data available of course, just that the spooks don't have a direct login to the live servers.
cabbie
9:15 pm on Jun 7, 2013 (gmt 0)
I agree, this should be a front page discussion. Has huge implications for all us 'foreigners' using US products.
seoskunk
9:36 pm on Jun 8, 2013 (gmt 0)
I can't believe people didn't know this already. You don't employ people from the NSA or DARPA without some connection. Yes of course this story should be on the front page , its been a long time breaking.
Key_Master
11:25 pm on Jun 8, 2013 (gmt 0)
I went to the shrink today.
I told her nobody was following me.
She said I was crazy.
seoskunk
12:42 am on Jun 9, 2013 (gmt 0)
Revealed: Google and Facebook DID allow NSA access to data and were in talks to set up 'spying rooms' despite denials by Zuckerberg and Page over PRISM project
This should be a front page discussion as the implications for webmasters are huge. As matters now stand, a huge chunk of communication by and among foreigners pass through Silicon Valley and are susceptible to data mining and outright espionage. That is simply not sustainable and probably falls afoul of EU privacy regulations. The EU can and should look into limiting access of the companies to EU citizens until privacy protections are put in place. It is also a colossal business opening for anyone wishing to build a search engine, operating system and social network headquartered out of the US and safe from NSA spying. As the business model of Silicon Valley is based on data mining for commercial purposes, any change in people's willingness to use their products will inevitable entail a massive hit to their bottom lines. I don't see people heading for the exits right away as we've become accustomed to the convenience of our tools, but there may well be a certain unease in downloading that latest cool app or checking into myriad social networking sites from our tracking devices.
phranque
9:27 am on Jun 14, 2013 (gmt 0)
haha!
just noticed a link to this site on google.com under the search box: Stop Watching Us | Stop Watching Us: https://optin.stopwatching.us/ [optin.stopwatching.us]
(although i can't restore the page i saw to get the exact wording of the message before the link...)
graeme_p
10:32 am on Jun 14, 2013 (gmt 0)
It gets a lot worse: MS is giving US intelligence early info on Windows vulnerabilities (so they can hack foreign installs), the data exchange goes both ways so US tech firms get classified info
hoosierdraft
6:55 pm on Jun 14, 2013 (gmt 0)
Too rich that Google is pushing for an answer to a problem they have helped to create.
Key_Master
7:39 pm on Jun 14, 2013 (gmt 0)
It gets a lot worse: MS is giving US intelligence early info on Windows vulnerabilities (so they can hack foreign installs), the data exchange goes both ways so US tech firms get classified info
That should keep them working overtime.
phranque
10:48 pm on Jun 14, 2013 (gmt 0)
(although i can't restore the page i saw to get the exact wording of the message before the link...)
this was the message:
Security and privacy are not optional. Stand with a broad coalition to demand that the NSA stop watching us: stopwatching.us [optin.stopwatching.us]
