Cloud Computing: 3 Reasons Apple Is Pushing for NSA Spying Reforms
March 29, 2015
Grazed from TechCheatSheet. Author: Nathanael Arnold.
Earlier this week, Apple and several other major U.S. tech companies renewed their calls for the U.S. government to reform its controversial electronic surveillance programs. In an open letter addressed to President Barack Obama, NSA Director Admiral Rogers, Attorney General Eric Holder, and several prominent members of Congress, Apple and dozens of other signatories urged the government to end the bulk data collection practices that were authorized under Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act.
As noted in the letter, Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act is used as the legal basis for the NSA’s bulk collection of electronic communications metadata. The letter also asked the government to institute “transparency and accountability mechanisms for both government and company reporting” for decisions made by the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court…
Apple lent its support to the letter through its membership in the Reform Government Surveillance group, a coalition of major tech companies that includes Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo. The Reform Government Surveillance sent a separate open letter to the Senate last year that called for similar reforms. Besides tech companies, other prominent signatories to the most recent letter included the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), and Human Rights Watch…