Google's Larry Page calls Internet spying threat to freedom

Google's Larry Page calls Internet spying threat to freedom
Advertisement
Google chief Larry Page branded Internet spying a threat to freedom and called for governments to be more revealing about what they try to find out about people's online activities.

"We understand that the US and other governments need to take action to protect their citizens' safety including sometimes by using surveillance," Page said in a blog post yesterday.

"But the level of secrecy around the current legal procedures undermines the freedoms we all cherish."

Page put his personal stamp on the California-based Internet giant's denial that it opened any doors for US intelligence agencies to mine data from its servers.

Google and other technology firms on Thursday were adamant that they did not knowingly take part in a secret program called PRISM that gave the National Security Agency (NSA) and the FBI back doors into servers at major Internet companies.

"We have not joined any program that would give the US government or any other government direct access to our servers," Page said.

"Indeed, the US government does not have direct access or a 'back door' to the information stored in our data centers," he continued. "We had not heard of a program called PRISM until yesterday."

The program was reportedly set up in 2007 and has grown "exponentially" to the point where it is now the most prolific contributor to President Barack Obama's Daily Brief, the US leader's top-secret daily intelligence briefing.

Some of the biggest firms in Silicon Valley were involved in the program, including Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, Apple, PalTalk, AOL, Skype and YouTube, reports said.

However, Internet titans contacted by AFP denied providing intelligence agencies with back doors to networks and held firm that they only cooperated with legal "front door" requests for information.

"This episode confirms what we have long believed there needs to be a more transparent approach," Page said.

Google routinely publishes transparency reports listing numbers of requests for user data by governments and how they were handled.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.

Online retailing to touch $76 billion by 2021 in India: Study
Samsung Galaxy Ace 3 purported picture leaks online
Facebook Gadgets360 Twitter Share Tweet Snapchat LinkedIn Reddit Comment google-newsGoogle News

Advertisement

Follow Us
© Copyright Red Pixels Ventures Limited 2024. All rights reserved.
Trending Products »
Latest Tech News »