Technology trade associations have sent a joint letter Tuesday asking the White House to take three key steps to better protect civil liberties and innovation as the government collects private data on citizens. The Computer & Communications Industry Association has been a longtime voice against government surveillance without checks and balances, and joined other associations at a recent meeting at the White House to express its concerns about the scope of the surveillance programs and lack of transparency.
The letter is a follow up to the meeting and asks the administration for greater transparency on the scope and use of surveillance, reforms to the nearly three decades old Electronic Communications and Privacy Act (ECPA) and policies that encourage cross-border data flows around the world that are critical to the digital economy.
Tech associations praised the Obama Administration’s announcement this month on steps to create more transparency, and asked that their planned transparency website include information on what data the government is accessing, how it is being obtained, and when the oversight programs at the different steps kick in. The tech industry also wants companies to have the freedom to disclose the numbers of government access requests that companies receive.
For more information, the letter can be found here: http://www.ccianet.org/wp-content/uploads/library/Joint%20Tech%20Letter%20On%20Surveillance%20.pdf