Internet companies in the U.S. are demanding that the surveillance practices of the U.S. should be reformed to enhance privacy protections and provide "appropriate oversight and accountability mechanisms."
In a letter on Thursday to the chairman and members of the Committee on the Judiciary, a copy (http://www.scribd.com/doc/180695378/USA-Freedom-Act-Letter-10-31-13) of which was provided by an industry source, Facebook, AOL, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo said they welcomed a debate about how to protect both national security and privacy interests and applauded the sponsors of the USA Freedom Act, a legislation aimed to end (http://www.pcworld.com/article/2058980/lawmakers-introduce-bill-to-rein-in-nsa-telephone-records-program.html) bulk data collection by the National Security Agency, for their contribution to the discussion.
The companies had until now focused on asking the government for permission to reveal information on users' data requests by the NSA, which are covered under "gag orders" that prohibit recipients of orders from discussing them in public.
A prolonged battle Google and Microsoft, for example, filed motions before the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to be allowed to provide aggregate statistics on orders and directives that were received under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and related regulations, which the government has so far refused.
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