[bestbits] Reform surveillance

[Mishi Choudhary]

Well! Important also to note is the following point captured in the
NYTimes story about this:

"While the Internet companies fight to maintain authority over their
customers’ data, their business models depend on collecting the same
information that the spy agencies want, and they have long cooperated
with the government to some extent by handing over data in response to
legal requests.

The new principles outlined by the companies contain little information
and few promises about their own practices, which privacy advocates say
contribute to the government’s desire to tap into the companies’ data
systems.

“The companies are placing their users at risk by collecting and
retaining so much information,” said Marc Rotenberg, president and
executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a
nonprofit research and advocacy organization. “As long as this much
personal data is collected and kept by these companies, they are always
going to be the target of government collection efforts.”

For instance, Internet companies store email messages, search queries,
payment details and other personal information to provide online
services and show personalized ads.

They are trying to blunt the spying revelations’ effects on their
businesses. Each disclosure risks alienating users, and foreign
governments are considering laws that would discourage their citizens
from using services from American Internet companies. The cloud
computing industry could lose $180 billion, or a quarter of its revenue,
by 2016, according to Forrester Research."

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/09/technology/tech-giants-issue-call-for-limits-on-government-surveillance-of-users.html?ref=technology&_r=0



On 12/09/2013 05:27 PM, Carlos A. Afonso wrote:
> One step *ahead* of us, I guess... :)
>
> --c.a.
>
> On 12/09/2013 08:23 PM, Laura Tresca wrote:
>> Hello everyone,
>> Sorry about the crossposting. I just want to make sure that we are in the same page. Have you seen http://reformgovernmentsurveillance.com/ ?
>> It´s amazing how the companies are one step before us!
>> Best,
>> Laura.
>>
>> ARTICLE 19
>> Oficina para Sudamerica/ South America Office
>> Rua João Adolfo, 118 - 8ºandar
>> Anhangabaú, São Paulo, Brasil
>> tel. +55 11 30570042/0071
>> www.artigo19.org/ www.article19.org
>>


-- 
Warm Regards
Mishi Choudhary, Esq.
Legal Director
Software Freedom Law Center
1995 Broadway Floor 17
New York, NY-10023
(tel) 212-461-1912
(fax) 212-580-0898
www.softwarefreedom.org


Executive Director 
SFLC.IN
K-9, Second Floor
Jangpura Extn.
New Delhi-110014
(tel) +91-11-43587126 
(fax) +91-11-24323530
www.sflc.in