The National Security Agency and the FBI have been tapping into the servers of nine technology companies, including Microsoft, Apple, Google, Yahoo, to collect audio, video, photographs, e-mails and other documents under a program code-named PRISM, according to a report in the Washington Post. But the tech companies named have responded to questions about the story with statements that may leave out as much as they say.
All the major technology companies named in the Post's report have adamantly denied that they have given the government full access to its servers in similar prepared statements.
President Obama said today that members of Congress have repeatedly been informed of these programs. "The relevant intelligence committees are fully briefed on these programs. These are programs that have been authorized by broad, bipartisan majorities repeatedly since 2006. And so I think at the outset, it's important to understand that your duly elected representatives have been consistently informed on exactly what we're doing," he said.
Still, while Obama says that data being collected on emails and Internet activity is targeted at foreign nationals and not U.S. citizens, the tech companies have all released similar prepared statements to the media denying involvement in this program.
The similarity in all the statements is clear. All mention that they would only comply with orders for requests about access to information if forced to do so under the law and that they do not provide "back door" or "direct" access to their servers and to user account information.
Experts believe that commonality in statements could mean a few things. The first is that the companies simply can't talk about this to begin with. "If these companies received an order under the FISA amendments act, they are forbidden by law from disclosing having received the order and disclosing any information about the order at all," Mark Rumold, staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told ABC News.
Note EU-Digest: first reactions coming from EU member states indicate that since foreign nationals are being targeted by the US PRISM spy program, the EU should immediately launch a strong protest to the US . The right to personal privacy is enshrined in not only the constitutions of EU member countries but also in the EU Charter, and these kind of actions by the US are inexcusable they say.
Read more: NSA PRISM: Dissecting the Technology Companies Adamant Denial of Involvement in Goverment Spying Program - ABC New
No comments:
Post a Comment