Title: Apple and Other Tech Companies Call for Government Surveillance Reform Post by: HCK on December 12, 2013, 03:29:24 pm Apple and Other Tech Companies Call for Government Surveillance Reform
(http://cdn.macrumors.com/article-new/2013/10/nsa_logo.png) Apple, along with seven other U.S. technology companies such as Microsoft, Facebook, and Google, have published an open letter urging President Barack Obama and members of Congress to reform government surveillance tactics, reports The Wall Street Journal (http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/12/09/tech-giants-band-together-for-nsa-reform/). The letter, which can be found on a website (http://reformgovernmentsurveillance.com/) endorsed by the tech companies, will also appear in full-page ads in the Monday editions of several publications such as The New York Times and the Washington Post. Dear Mr. President and Members of Congress,The various tech companies have also published a set of principles that they believe governments should follow, including the limitation of government authority to collect users' information, oversight and accountability, transparency about demands, respect for the free flow of information, and the avoidance of conflicts among governments. Concerns about government use of user data collecting began ramping up in June, when a U.S. government program named PRISM was revealed (http://www.macrumors.com/2013/06/06/intelligence-program-gives-us-government-direct-access-to-customer-data-on-apple-servers/) to be giving the U.S. National Security Agency direct access to user data on corporate servers across a wide spectrum of Internet companies including Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, PalTalk, AOL, Skype, YouTube, and Apple. In response, Apple published (http://www.macrumors.com/2013/06/17/apple-releases-statement-on-customer-privacy-and-law-enforcement-requests-for-customer-data/) a statement of "Commitment to Customer Privacy" denying its participation in the NSA's program and teamed up (http://www.macrumors.com/2013/07/17/apple-to-team-up-with-tech-companies-to-ask-for-greater-nsa-transparency/) with a number of tech companies to request greater NSA surveillance transparency, allowing it to provide customers with regular reports on security related requests. Last month, Apple also published a report (http://www.macrumors.com/2013/11/05/apple-publishes-report-outlining-government-information-requests/) outlining statistics on government and law enforcement requests it received from January to the end of June. Apple and other companies also met with President Obama in August to <a href="http://www.macrumors.com/2013/08/09/tim-cook-and-other-tech-executives-meet-with-president-obama-to-discuss-government-surveillance/ ">discuss[/url] privacy issues and government surveillance. Recently, Apple and 30 other technology corporations signed a letter (http://www.macrumors.com/2013/10/01/apple-and-other-tech-companies-sign-letter-recommending-legislation-for-transparency-in-government-surveillance/) urging the U.S. Congress to pass the Surveillance Order Reporting Act of 2013 and the Surveillance Transparency Act of 2013, which would result in increased surveillance disclosures and would give technology companies the right to publish detailed statistics on demands for user data. <small>Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the comment thread is located in our <a href="">Politics, Religion, Social Issues[/url] forum. All MacRumors forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.</small> Recent Mac and iOS Blog Stories • MacUpdate Winter Bundle: 10 Apps for $39.99, Including 6-Month BackBlaze and Anonymizer Subscriptions (http://www.macrumors.com/2013/12/04/macupdate-winter-bundle-10-apps-for-39-99-including-6-month-backblaze-and-anonymizer-subscriptions/) • Google Wallet for iOS Updated With Single Sign-On, Card Adding via Camera (http://www.macrumors.com/2013/12/04/google-wallet-for-ios-updated-with-single-sign-on-card-adding-via-camera/) • Apple Store iOS App Updated With Free Holiday Playlist (http://www.macrumors.com/2013/12/04/apple-store-ios-app-updated-with-free-holiday-playlist/) • Olloclip Releases New 3-in-1 Macro Photo Lens for iPhone 5s and iPhone 5 (http://www.macrumors.com/2013/12/04/olloclip-releases-new-3-in-1-macro-photo-lens-for-iphone-5s-and-iphone-5/) • iOS Media Player 'Infuse' Upgraded 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