Looking
over this week’s blogs, I noticed that there are quite a few posts about
everyone being tracked by the NSA, National Security Agency. As most of technology
users, including the students in Computers and Society, know, NSA collects
private user data ranging from financial records, web browsing activity, and
email messages. Although the main role of the NSA is the protection of the U.S.
government’s communications and information systems, in 2013, Edward Snowden
revealed, through leaked classified documents, that NSA conducts a mass surveillance
of the United States, including phone records. But how does NSA get the
information it wants? It simply forces companies such as Google, Facebook, and
Apple to give up its user information or be sent to court. While these
companies have to legally give NSA the information it wants, it has recently
been revealed that one company, Yahoo, is fighting for user rights by
challenging NSA’s request for private user data.
In the court case of Yahoo vs. the NSA, Yahoo failed in challenging the constitutionality of the order. The court ruled that Yahoo must give the user data to the NSA or be fined $250,000 per day. While this result is expected, as the NSA is backed by the U.S. government, one of the takeaways from this court case is that the technology firms have been battling the NSA and the government over these surveillance orders. Yahoo, however, is the first company that has won the right to declassify the court case and make it available to the public. While this does not prove that many of the giant tech companies, such as Google or FB, have been challenging NSA’s requests, it certainly does open up that possibility. In addition, the documents released after the court case shows that this battle against government surveillance has been going on years before the leak by Edward Snowden last year.
Ron Bell, the General Counsel & Corporate Secretary at Yahoo, has stated, “we consider this an important win for transparency.. We treat public safety with the utmost seriousness, but we are also committed to protecting users’ data. We will continue to contest requests and laws we consider unlawful, unclear, or over broad”. This statement brought me back to the ACM code of ethics that we had to read for this week. Section 2.3 states that “ACM members must obey existing local, state, province, national and international laws unless there is a compelling ethical basis not to do so.. compliance must be balanced with the recognition that sometimes existing laws and rules may be immoral or inappropriate and, therefore, must be challenged”. In my opinion, Yahoo’s battle with the NSA shows that they have a similar code of ethics, where they follow existing laws but can challenge ones that they feel are unethical. This conflict of ethics (or values) vs. technology vs. the law is a big part of computers and society.
In retrospect, although Yahoo has been putting up a fight against the NSA, Yahoo services are no more safe and secure against NSA than Google or Facebook. However, Yahoo’s stand against the release of user data and the declassification of the court case, can lead to more court cases against the NSA, more refusals to give up user information, and/or more declassified documents. Looking toward the future, attorney Tim Bukher, who specializes in internet and privacy law, states that “analysts are estimating that this [NSA’s surveillance] could cost the cloud computing industry $35 billion a year as European consumers move away from American providers”.
In the court case of Yahoo vs. the NSA, Yahoo failed in challenging the constitutionality of the order. The court ruled that Yahoo must give the user data to the NSA or be fined $250,000 per day. While this result is expected, as the NSA is backed by the U.S. government, one of the takeaways from this court case is that the technology firms have been battling the NSA and the government over these surveillance orders. Yahoo, however, is the first company that has won the right to declassify the court case and make it available to the public. While this does not prove that many of the giant tech companies, such as Google or FB, have been challenging NSA’s requests, it certainly does open up that possibility. In addition, the documents released after the court case shows that this battle against government surveillance has been going on years before the leak by Edward Snowden last year.
Ron Bell, the General Counsel & Corporate Secretary at Yahoo, has stated, “we consider this an important win for transparency.. We treat public safety with the utmost seriousness, but we are also committed to protecting users’ data. We will continue to contest requests and laws we consider unlawful, unclear, or over broad”. This statement brought me back to the ACM code of ethics that we had to read for this week. Section 2.3 states that “ACM members must obey existing local, state, province, national and international laws unless there is a compelling ethical basis not to do so.. compliance must be balanced with the recognition that sometimes existing laws and rules may be immoral or inappropriate and, therefore, must be challenged”. In my opinion, Yahoo’s battle with the NSA shows that they have a similar code of ethics, where they follow existing laws but can challenge ones that they feel are unethical. This conflict of ethics (or values) vs. technology vs. the law is a big part of computers and society.
In retrospect, although Yahoo has been putting up a fight against the NSA, Yahoo services are no more safe and secure against NSA than Google or Facebook. However, Yahoo’s stand against the release of user data and the declassification of the court case, can lead to more court cases against the NSA, more refusals to give up user information, and/or more declassified documents. Looking toward the future, attorney Tim Bukher, who specializes in internet and privacy law, states that “analysts are estimating that this [NSA’s surveillance] could cost the cloud computing industry $35 billion a year as European consumers move away from American providers”.
http://video.foxnews.com/v/3783048506001/fighting-for-user-rights-yahoo-challenged-nsa-info-request/?playlist_id=929831913001#sp=show-clips
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-29169722
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