Google chief Larry Page and Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg condemned online spying Friday and called for governments to be more revealing about snooping on the Internet.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe understand that the US and other governments need to take action to protect their citizens\u2019 safety \u2014 including sometimes by using surveillance,\u201d Google chief and co-founder Larry Page said in a blog post.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut the level of secrecy around the current legal procedures undermines the freedoms we all cherish.\u201d<\/p>\n
Page put his personal stamp on the California-based Internet giant\u2019s denial that it allowed US intelligence agencies to mine data from its servers.<\/p>\n
Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg did likewise in a statement posted online later in the day.<\/p>\n
\u201cFacebook is not and has never been part of any program to give the US or any other government direct access to our servers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have never received a blanket request or court order from any government agency asking for information or metadata in bulk\u2026 And if we did, we would fight it aggressively.\u201d<\/p>\n
Google, Facebook and other technology firms have vehemently denied that they knowingly took part in a secret program called PRISM that gave the National Security Agency (NSA) and the FBI backdoors into servers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have not joined any program that would give the US government or any other government direct access to our servers,\u201d Page said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIndeed, the US government does not have direct access or a \u2018backdoor\u2019 to the information stored in our data centers\u2026 We had not heard of a program called PRISM until yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n
The program was reportedly set up in 2007 and has grown to become the most prolific contributor to President Barack Obama\u2019s Daily Brief, the US leader\u2019s top-secret daily intelligence briefing.<\/p>\n
Some of the biggest firms in Silicon Valley were involved in the program, including Apple, AOL, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, PalTalk, Skype, Yahoo and YouTube, reports said.<\/p>\n
Internet titans contacted by AFP denied providing intelligence agencies with backdoors to networks and held firm that they only cooperated with legal \u201cfrontdoor\u201d requests for information.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis episode confirms what we have long believed \u2014 there needs to be a more transparent approach,\u201d Page said.<\/p>\n
Google routinely publishes transparency reports listing numbers of requests for user data by governments and how they were handled.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe strongly encourage all governments to be much more transparent about all programs aimed at keeping the public safe,\u201d Zuckerberg said, speaking on behalf of the leading social network.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the only way to protect everyone\u2019s civil liberties and create the safe and free society we all want over the long term.\u201d<\/p>\n
Internet giants deny granting US government \u2018direct access\u2019 to servers<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Internet tapping aimed at non-US people: official<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n