Major US Tech Firms Press Congress For Internet Surveillance Reforms (reuters.com)

Dustin Volz, reporting for Reuters: Facebook, Amazon and more than two dozen other U.S. technology companies pressed Congress on Friday to make changes to a broad internet surveillance law, saying they were necessary to improve privacy protections and increase government transparency. The request marks the first significant public effort by Silicon Valley to wade into what is expected to be a contentious debate later the year over the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, parts of which will expire on Dec. 31 unless Congress reauthorizes them. Of particular concern to the technology industry and privacy advocates is Section 702, which allows U.S. intelligence agencies to vacuum up vast amounts of communications from foreigners but also incidentally collects some data belonging to Americans that can be searched by analysts without a warrant.

Comments

Re:No NOT just "incidentally"

[spacepimp]

To those of you foolish enough to believe that US citizen surveillance via FBI/CIA/NSA is a partisan issue; please stop dumbing down the conversation. If you think that the only enemy is the other party and that your party is the steward of rights and liberties, then you haven't paid attention. Both parties have no problem with doubling down on these abuses.

A river of crocodile tears.

[WolfgangVL]

Most *normal* people are fucking retarded. Americans have forgotten that privacy is another word for liberty. Our government knows this.

Tech companies don't want privacy, they just want less competition, and a market to sell the data to the government. Government wants it too. Then there are NO constitutional protections, no pesky warrants, no need for secret courts, bigger budgets, less transparency, no oversight, and even more data. All packaged and legal, direct from the companies everybody already loves. It's perfect.

Yesterday I read about a DMV somewhere that was leasing their own in-house facial recog system to enforcement and got hung up for it... cuz government spying. I understand FB has has pretty good recog for YEARS, and has spent quite a while perfecting the sale of data. Looks like a market just opened up.

We already accept these very companies are selling our demographic and interest info, but what do you think your dozen or so (aliases) screen-names are worth to enforcement? How about a list of your closest (known associates) friends? Political affiliation? How about a list of every gun owner within 2 blocks of $ADDRESS, separated by income, skin color, employment status, and real time location history.... instantly? You know, for the children.

This data is already on the shelves folks, and these companies are using our outrage at government spying to build a market for it.

Facebook and Amazon are asking for privacy? Like as in less spying? It must be fucking opposite day.