Google CEO Eric Schmidt Notes NSA Spying Is 'Outrageous' and Potentially Illegal
Google's executive chairman Eric Schmidt has never been one to hold back from uttering his true feelings, which is led to him making news with a recent comment regarding the ongoing NSA fallout. As the agency comes under continued fire for seemingly unchecked spying across all sorts of digital properties, Google has also been eyed as a potential culprit for being an enabler.
Schmidt said: "It’s really outrageous that the National Security Agency was looking between the Google data centers, if that’s true. The steps that the organization was willing to do without good judgment to pursue its mission and potentially violate people’s privacy, it’s not OK. The Snowden revelations have assisted us in understanding that it’s perfectly possible that there are more revelations to come. The National Security Agency allegedly collected the phone records of every phone call of 320 million people in order to identify roughly 300 people who might be a risk. That’s just bad public policy…and perhaps illegal."
Many Internet companies, Google included, have had to answer tough questions about potential backdoor arrangements with the National Security Agency. There have been mixed tales thus far on whether or not these companies are working alongside the NSA and providing access to user data and communications, but Schmidt makes it sound as if Google hasn't been doing anything beyond what's required by law.
He also seemed to think that while certain measures are required to keep us all safe, he said that you "don’t have to violate the privacy of every single citizen of America" in order to find the bad apples.
Beyond all this, one has to wonder if we're working our way towards meaningful change, or if we're all agreeing on just how awful the NSA spying is while the NSA itself continues to do as it pleases. Complaining in public only gets you so far, and we've yet to see the NSA come out and suggest that it'll be changing its ways anytime soon.
Schmidt said: "It’s really outrageous that the National Security Agency was looking between the Google data centers, if that’s true. The steps that the organization was willing to do without good judgment to pursue its mission and potentially violate people’s privacy, it’s not OK. The Snowden revelations have assisted us in understanding that it’s perfectly possible that there are more revelations to come. The National Security Agency allegedly collected the phone records of every phone call of 320 million people in order to identify roughly 300 people who might be a risk. That’s just bad public policy…and perhaps illegal."
Many Internet companies, Google included, have had to answer tough questions about potential backdoor arrangements with the National Security Agency. There have been mixed tales thus far on whether or not these companies are working alongside the NSA and providing access to user data and communications, but Schmidt makes it sound as if Google hasn't been doing anything beyond what's required by law.
He also seemed to think that while certain measures are required to keep us all safe, he said that you "don’t have to violate the privacy of every single citizen of America" in order to find the bad apples.
Beyond all this, one has to wonder if we're working our way towards meaningful change, or if we're all agreeing on just how awful the NSA spying is while the NSA itself continues to do as it pleases. Complaining in public only gets you so far, and we've yet to see the NSA come out and suggest that it'll be changing its ways anytime soon.
