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Yahoo CEO Mayer: we faced jail if we revealed NSA surveillance secrets

by BTM
6 replies
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Yahoo CEO Mayer: we faced jail if we revealed NSA surveillance secrets | Technology | theguardian.com

Marissa Mayer, the CEO of Yahoo, and Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook struck back on Wednesday at critics who have charged tech companies with doing too little to fight off NSA surveillance. Mayer said executives faced jail if they revealed government secrets.

Yahoo and Facebook, along with other tech firms, are pushing for the right to be allowed to publish the number of requests they receive from the spy agency. Companies are forbidden by law to disclose how much data they provide.

During an interview at the Techcrunch Disrupt conference in San Francisco, Mayer was asked why tech companies had not simply decided to tell the public more about what the US surveillance industry was up to. "Releasing classified information is treason and you are incarcerated," she said.

Mayer said she was "proud to be part of an organisation that from the beginning, in 2007, has been sceptical of - and has been scrutinizing - those requests [from the NSA]."

Yahoo has previously unsuccessfully sued the foreign intelligence surveillance (Fisa) court, which provides the legal framework for NSA surveillance. In 2007 it asked to be allowed to publish details of requests it receives from the spy agency. "When you lose and you don't comply, it's treason," said Mayer. "We think it make more sense to work within the system," she said.

Zuckerberg said the government had done a "bad job" of balancing people's privacy and its duty to protect. "Frankly I think the government blew it," he said.

He said after the news broke in the Guardian and the Washington Post about Prism, the government surveillance programme that targets major internet companies: "The government response was, 'Oh don't worry we are not spying on any Americans.' Oh wonderful that's really helpful to companies that are trying to serve people around the world and that's really going to inspire confidence in American internet companies."

"I thought that was really bad," he said. Zuckerberg said Facebook and others were pushing successfully for more transparency. "We are not at the end of this. I wish that the government would be more proactive about communicating. We are not psyched that we had to sue in order to get this and we take it very seriously," he said.
  • Profile picture of the author tashrif
    Man, these guys must know so many secrets about the government !
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  • Profile picture of the author HeySal
    There's a movement now called "talk like a terrorist all the time", which is fighting the NSA by choking them with trash filled with keywords. You just insert phrases into normal conversation and let them go nuts when they have to sort through a lot of triggered trash for nothing. It's the 2013 version of lets Blow Echelon out. The more junk they are inundated with, the more worthless their illegal power grab becomes to them.
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    Sal
    When the Roads and Paths end, learn to guide yourself through the wilderness
    Beyond the Path

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    • Profile picture of the author Joe Mobley
      operation blackbriar


      Claude Whitacre :rolleyes:
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      Follow Me on Twitter: @daVinciJoe
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    • Profile picture of the author Sumit Menon
      Originally Posted by HeySal View Post

      There's a movement now called "talk like a terrorist all the time", which is fighting the NSA by choking them with trash filled with keywords. You just insert phrases into normal conversation and let them go nuts when they have to sort through a lot of triggered trash for nothing. It's the 2013 version of lets Blow Echelon out. The more junk they are inundated with, the more worthless their illegal power grab becomes to them.
      And what if out of all the people in the world, they decide to come after you? Your life is pretty much screwed!
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      • Profile picture of the author HeySal
        Originally Posted by Sumit Menon View Post

        And what if out of all the people in the world, they decide to come after you? Your life is pretty much screwed!
        If they're set on coming after you, they will. Might as well mess with them. If we don't keep a sense of humor, we're going to explode over here.
        Signature

        Sal
        When the Roads and Paths end, learn to guide yourself through the wilderness
        Beyond the Path

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  • Profile picture of the author thunderbird
    Without moral authority, there is a huge loss of face, and with that one's words aren't taken seriously, but instead greeted with laughter and mockery (eg from Putin) at their tragically comical hypocrisy.
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    Project HERE.

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