Google boss Schmidt slams ‘paranoid’ Assange over Govt ties accusations

Google's Eric Schmidt is infuriated with Julian Assange allegations that Google is tied to the US government when it comes to the openness of the Internet, which the WikiLeaks founder expressed in his new book 'When Google met WikiLeaks.'

On the eve of the book launch, Schmidt called WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange 'very paranoid.'

The book recalls an encounter when Assange met Schmidt in 2011. Assange has also said Google is basically a privatized National Security Agency, CNET reported.

However, Schmidt adamantly denied Assange's allegations.

Schmidt said that Assange is very paranoid about things. Google never collaborated with the NSA and in fact, Google has fought very hard against what they did.

He added that they have taken all of their data, all of their exchanges, and fully encrypted them so no one can get them, especially the government.

Assange has been huddled in the Ecuadoran Embassy in London for more than two years, as he waits for diplomatic asylum.

He's avoiding extradition to Sweden over alleged sexual offenses, which he has denied. Assange also has said he fears extradition to the US, where he believes he could be tried for espionage crimes for his involvement in the release of classified documents.

Schmidt also blasted Assange's living arrangement, saying that - Assange, of course, is writing from the, shall we say, luxury lodgings of the local embassy in London.

(Posted on 24-09-2014)

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Google boss Schmidt slams 'paranoid' Assange over Govt ties accusations