[kictanet] The Dark Side of Big Data?

[Joseph Mucheru]

Google, Asking Government For Permission To Disclose NSA Data, Isn't Done
Defending Itself

The Huffington Post Jun 11, 2013

In an open letter on Tuesday to Attorney General Eric Holder and FBI
Director Robert Mueller, Google pressed the United States government for
permission to publish more information about the number of secret requests
it receives for customers' data.

"Assertions in the press that our compliance with these requests gives the
U.S. government unfettered access to our users' data are simply untrue,"
David Drummond, the search giant's top lawyer, wrote, echoing not one but
two flat-out denials that the government has "direct access" to company
servers. Last week, The Guardian and The Washington Post had bombshell
reports on a National Security Agency program called PRISM that lets the
government collect emails, photos and other information from Internet users.

As it currently stands, Google is prohibited by law from disclosing the
number of government data requests it receives under the Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Act -- the controversial law that empowers PRISM
-- as well as the number of individuals affected by those requests. "We
therefore ask you to help make it possible for Google to publish in our
Transparency Report aggregate numbers of national security requests,
including FISA disclosures—in terms of both the number we receive and their
scope," the company wrote.

In March, the company won the right publish statistics about the number of
"national security letters" it receives. Those letters require Google to
hand over "metadata" about users interactions -- who emailed whom, for
example, but not the content of the emails themselves -- though even then
the government would not let Google publish exact figures but only broad
ranges of the number of requests.

"Transparency here will likewise serve the public interest without harming
national security," Drummond noted in the letter. Transparency will also
make it easier for Google to clear its name to Americans who trust it with
their data.

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/3423064
On Jun 15, 2013 6:27 AM, "Ali Hussein" <ali at hussein.me.ke> wrote:

> Where do authorities draw the line on usage of Data for enforcement
> purposes? The line between data used to stop criminal activities and
> whether those violate Privacy of innocents is becoming increasingly blurred.
>
>
> http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/08/us/mining-of-data-is-called-crucial-to-fight-terror.html?pagewanted=1&_r=4&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20130608
>
> Ali Hussein
> CEO | 3mice interactive media Ltd
> Principal | Telemedia Africa Ltd
>
> +254 713 601113
>
> "The future belongs to him who knows how to wait." - Russian Proverb
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
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