Google, Microsoft, Yahoo Improve User Privacy: Tech Companies Take Steps to Slow NSA Spying
In an effort to thwart the aggressive surveillance programs of the United States government and its spy agencies, top American technological companies have upgraded their security systems in an effort to maintain consumer trust and loyalty.
Microsoft Corp., Google Inc., Yahoo, and several other tech companies have come together to make it more difficult for the government to intrude on the privacy of users, especially after suffering from the fallout of recent revelations. It has been about a year since former National Security Agency (NSA) subcontractor Edward Snowden exposed the agency's mass surveillance program and people have become more conscious about their general privacy.
One measure adopted by tech companies is to encrypt their internal traffic after learning from Snowden that the NSA hacked into their overseas connections. They are also starting to employ strategies and make use of tools to make interception of online activity more difficult.
The companies chose to tighten their security instead of lobbying for government reform on such practices due to a belief that the latter would take a longer time. Another reason is that for the most part, solutions to the issues at hand are still within the control of the companies through their in-house technological practices.
With the "Reset the Net" campaign going mainstream, Google announced on Wednesday that they would be testing programs to allow Gmail users to keep their emails encrypted until they are sent to their respective recipients.
Improving security systems is only an initial step as the tech companies are planning to press governments to negotiate setting limits on cyber-spying. This would be more sustainable since the NSA can currently legally compel individuals or companies to provide information access, according to privacy researcher Ashkan Soltani.
In the absence of a response from the government, Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith said that they are changing their business practices and technologies as a solution to the looming problem of the government's intrusion into privacy. This has been an urgent concern for most tech companies since they are already being considered by the public to be surveillance tools utilized by the government.
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