Major tech companies unite to call for new limits on surveillance - The Washington Post
▻http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/major-tech-companies-unite-to-call-for-new-limits-on-surveillance/2013/12/08/530f0fd4-6051-11e3-bf45-61f69f54fc5f_story.html
Amid the revelations about #NSA data collection, several major technology companies have embarked on initiatives to encrypt data in hopes of thwarting government spying. Companies also have pushed for greater transparency in #surveillance requests so that they can offer more detailed accounts of the information they are compelled to turn over to government officials .
But Monday’s initiative goes further still by calling for substantive changes in the nation’s surveillance systems themselves and urging that other countries undertake similar reforms. The tech industry has emerged in recent years as one of the more influential in Washington, after years when companies often were content to stay on the legislative sidelines and avoid conflict .
“This united call for surveillance reform is a game changer,” said Leslie Harris, president of the Center for Democracy and Technology, a D.C.-based advocacy group that receives some industry support. “Bringing these powerful voices to this really important fight is going to rebalance the scales.”