Internet Brands Get Chance to Clear Name with Data Requests, but FISA Still Locked Down

Posted by Sheila Shayon on June 18, 2013 04:52 PM

In the wake of the PRISM scandal, brands are continuing to jockey for their place among the most transparent as the government slowly concedes to releasing more surveillance data collected through the top-secret NSA program, which was made public by whistle blower Edward Snowden.

Requests by Facebook, Microsoft, Google and the like to release data requested by the government have been answered this week. While the initial accusations that the internet companies allowed the NSA to troll data through a wide-open back door was ruled false, the companies still wished to clear their names in conjunction with the thousands of written data requests with which they are charged to comply with per federal laws.

To date, Apple, Facebook, Yahoo, and Microsoft have disclosed the number of requests received over certain blocks of time. Facebook published its first transparency report, where it said it received up to 10,000 requests between July and December 2012. Meanwhile, Apple said it faced up to 5,000 federal, state and local requests between December 2012 and May 2013, Microsoft reported 7,000 requests from July through December 2012, and Yahoo reported the most, with 13,000 requests for data in the past 18 months, the BBC reports.Continue reading...

More about: Internet, Privacy, Transparency, PRISM, NSA, FISA, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, Yahoo, Marissa Mayer, Mark Zuckerberg, Surveillance

brands under fire

NSA Scandal Sends Brands Scrambling to Defend Themselves as Users Question Privacy

Posted by Ben Berkon on June 12, 2013 11:58 AM

The government’s infringement on communicative freedom and privacy is hardly a new topic in America.

Starting in the late-1940s, the US underwent a period called the "Second Red Scare," which gave birth to the era of "McCarthyism," a time in America where many citizens feared their phone lines were being tapped. Today, heightened security over terrorist activity has caused the nation's security divisions to implement such tactics yet again, though the digital age poses a much greater challenge to operations as the public shares more, but also knows more.

Privacy concerns have peaked as The Guardian recently published a series of reports documenting questionable actions by the US National Security Agency. Late last week, The Guardian revealed its source— Edward Snowden, a former US intelligence operative who consciously leaked the NSA program called "PRISM.” According to CNN, PRISM is a top secret, on-going program that entitles the NSA "to extract the details of people's online activities—including audio and video chats, photographs, e-mails, documents and other materials."

Yet, unlike past federal privacy infringements, the PRISM scandal has implicated major brands including Verizon, Facebook, Google, Yahoo, AOL, Apple and Skype. While Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted a public note on Facebook claiming, "We hadn't even heard of PRISM before yesterday," and Google CEO Larry Page wrote an open letter sharing similar sentiments, other brands haven't been nearly as forthright, although all have denied knowledge of the program.Continue reading...

More about: Transparency, NSA, National Security Agency, PRISM, Edward Snowden, Surveillance, Privacy, ACLU, Mozilla, Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Microsoft, Twitter, Apple, YouTube Skype, PalTalk, AOL, Verizon, Brand Transparency, User Data,