A letter addressed to the President and Congress:
We understand that governments have a duty to protect their citizens. But this summer’s revelations highlighted the urgent need to reform government surveillance practices worldwide. The balance in many countries has tipped too far in favor of the state and away from the rights of the individual — rights that are enshrined in our Constitution. This undermines the freedoms we all cherish. It’s time for a change.
For our part, we are focused on keeping users’ data secure — deploying the latest encryption technology to prevent unauthorized surveillance on our networks and by pushing back on government requests to ensure that they are legal and reasonable in scope.
The signees? Aol, Apple, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Twitter and Yahoo. It’s sad that it may take companies of this size to affect change, but I’m all for this if it can help.