Microsoft Wants ‘Unfinished Business’ On Surveillance Reform Sorted

A year after the first leaks of Edward Snowden on mass surveillance were published, Microsoft has said the US government needs to take more action on reforming laws that allow intelligence bodies to gather up people’s data.

Microsoft, which was linked with the PRISM programme that collected information from a range of tech companies, said the Snowden documentss had damaged trust in the industry, which the American administration should try to recover.

Microsoft demands change

“The US government needs to address important unfinished business to reduce the technology trust deficit it has created,” said Brad Smith, general counsel and executive vice president for legal and corporate affairs at Microsoft, in a blog post.

“People have real questions and concerns about how their data are protected. These concerns have real implications for cloud adoption.

“After all, people won’t use technology they don’t trust. We need to strike a better balance between privacy and national security to restore trust and uphold our fundamental liberties.”

Smith outlined five points he believes the US government needs to address. He said the US government should not be able to issue warrants to acquire data on non-US individuals or businesses.

A recent action to acquire data from a Microsoft data centre in Ireland was recently approved by a US court.

The government should also commit to not hacking into fibre lines and data centres in the US, Smith added. “Shouldn’t a government that prosecutes foreigners who hack into US companies stop its own employees from hacking into such businesses? Why must we continue to wait for an assurance on this issue?”

Smith said bulk data collection should be ended and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court that was at the centre of the Snowden leaks should be reformed to make it both more transparent and open to argument.

He and other tech companies want to see more transparency around government access to data, whilst supporting global initiatives around greater openness from all national administrations involved in broad surveillance.

The National Security Agency reform bill passed through the House of Representatives late last month, but tech firms, including Microsoft, said there were too many loopholes in the legislation that would still allow for bulk collection of people’s data.

They are now urging the Senate to pass a strengthened version of the USA Freedom Act.

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