Google’s Eric Schmidt Blasts NSA Spying
Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman of Google Inc, says that reports of NSA spying on data centers without consent is unacceptable and possibly illegal. If these claims are proven true, Schmidt says such acts would be “really outrageous.” Earlier this year it was revealed by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden that the NSA was willing given access to user data by several major internet and communications companies, including Google.
However, more recent leaks claim that the NSA has been secretly sifting through data centers without approval. As Huffington Post reports, the leaks say the intelligence agency tapped communication links used by Google and Yahoo. Schmidt, speaking from Hong Kong, says Google has already filed complaints with the NSA, President Obama, as well as members of Congress.
Last week NSA Director General Keith Alexander stated that the agency does “not have access to Google servers, Yahoo servers. We go through a court order.” Other spokespeople for the NSA have refuted these claims as well. They insist that the press has presented untrue facts and misrepresented NSA actions.
Recent reports say that US intelligence operations that would not be allowed normally. But laws like the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act have cleared the legal hurdles by presidential order, new information alleges. NSA officials have denied these claims.
During his interview, Eric Schmidt claimed that the NSA has gathered telephone metadata on 320 million people to catch 300 high risk suspects. Besides being a legal question mark, Schmidt says it’s “just bad public policy,” reports ZD Net.
It is worth noting that Eric Schmidt has been a major supporter of Barack Obama during his campaigns. The Google head has also been called at on times to serve as an advisor to both the campaigns and the administration.
The US Senate Intelligence Committee passed new restrictions last week on the widespread government intelligence surveillance programs, however, they will still continue. Google Chairman Eric Schmidt has not said whether he has gotten any response from his official complaints over NSA spying concerns.
[Image via Wikimedia Commons / Charles Haynes]
