About a year ago, Google, Facebook, and Micrsoft requested to the US government, that the requests the national security was making to access user data, be made public. The tech giants wanted to aggregate the requests , “in terms of both the number we receive and their scope.” It’s been a year since they’ve received any sort of update.
So in true Silicon Valley style, these companies have taken matters into their own hands. Apple, Google, Facebook and Microsoft are expanding their privacy policies to be able to notify users as and when the Government requests their private data, unless being specifically “gagged” by a judge or some other legal authority.
This is a bold move by these tech companies to consciously ignore “the instructions stamped on the fronts of subpoenas urging them not to alert subjects about data requests”. It will be interesting to watch the Government’s reaction to this!
In fact, it was common practice for the government authorities to inform the people when investigators entered a home or tapped a phone line, in the form of a warrant. But that practice is not being followed with the transition into the digital world. In fact, cellular carriers do not tell their customers when investigators are collecting call data. Interestingly, companies that do already notify users have found that investigators often drop data requests to avoid having suspects learn that they are being watched.
Twitter was the first major tech company to notify users when a government request was being made to access private data. But this did not have a major impact in changing other major tech companies’ minds. But when the Electronic Frontier Foundation issued a report titled, “Who Has Your Back?” in 2011, which rated companies on their privacy policies, a lot of companies followed Twitters way.
Google already notifies users when requests are being made, but often withholds them if there is a risk or a potential harm to the crime victim. The company said in a statement,
“We notify users about legal demands when appropriate, unless prohibited by law or court order,”
But the company has also been known to sift through user data to provide the personalized ads, called “interest-based ads”. Though the company does give you the option to opt out, how many individuals would actually go to the effort of doing that. This brings us back to quire one, do users care about their private data being private?
Though all these measures are being taken keep the users “safe”, it might just be a double edged sword. Ronald T. Hosko, a former FBI special agent, said that, “the development of cases has been hurt by the threat of user notification, especially during early phases when investigators try to work discreetly, before a suspect potentially can destroy evidence.” He said,” the shift among tech companies has been driven mainly by concern about their public images, at the expense of public safety — an issue he said was particularly acute when it came to cases involving child predators or terrorists.”
“My fear is that we will be less secure in our country, in our houses, because of political decisions, because of the politics of the day, rather than what will keep us safe. I’m concerned that that gets people killed, that that gets people hurt.”
Jason M. Weinstein, former deputy assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s criminal division says that,
“It’s sort of a double whammy that makes law enforcement’s job harder, it has the potential to significantly impair investigations.”
What do you think about the conflicts in the privacy of user data? Do you actually care if huge tech companies and Government agencies sift through your data? Let us know in the comment section below!