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Microsoft had Google standing up to Prism

by on02 September 2013

You probably were not expecting this

Microsoft and Google have walked out of talks with the Government after the NSA started to get even sillier over its Prism spying programme. Google and Vole wanted the government to allow them to disclose the now-secret data requests they receive and it seems that the government sees them as pro-terrorist, pro-communist, who are so unpatriotic they should probably also be investigated.

Microsoft's general counsel, Brad Smith, said that while he appreciated the good faith and earnest efforts by the capable government lawyers with whom Microsoft and Google negotiated, he was disappointed that these negotiations failed. The director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, promised to disclose aggregate numbers of FISA orders issued to tech and telecom companies, but will not allow the companies to make such disclosures. We guess this is because if the companies release the figures then they will be accurate and not picked out of the bottoms of spooks trying to re-assure the public that they are not really living in a totalitarian state.

"FISA and national security letters are an important part of our effort to keep the nation and its citizens safe, and disclosing more detailed information about how they are used and to whom they are directed can obviously help our enemies avoid detection," Clapper said in a statement.

The tech sector does not want to stop the spying just tell the great unwashed when and how they have been spied upon. They are also keen to shake off the concerns about their involvement in vast secret US surveillance programs revealed by former spy contractor Edward Snowden.

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