Zuckerberg Phones Obama for Answers About NSA Spying

When youre Mark Zuckerberg, you can do things a little differently from everyone else. Worried about a pesky construction project next door? Drop $30 million and buy up a four-pack of your neighbors homes. Worried that the NSAs widespread surveillance may undermine everyones trust in the internet and torpedo your social networking business? Give the President a call.

Apparently, thats what Zuck did last night, shortly after the website First Look Media reported that the NSA had been masquerading as a Facebook server in order to infect target computers. Ive called President Obama to express my frustration over the damage the government is creating for all of our future, Zuckerberg wrote in a note he posted to Facebook today.

When our engineers work tirelessly to improve security, we imagine were protecting you against criminals, not our own government. Mark Zuckerberg

A White House spokeswoman confirmed that Zuckerberg and Obama spoke last night, discussing recent reports in the press about alleged activities by the U.S. intelligence community, but she declined to tell us what exactly was said. It seems, however, that Facebooks CEO and founder did not get what he wanted. Unfortunately, it seems like it will take a very long time for true full reform, Zuckerberg wrote.

Zuckerberg is just one of the many people across Silicon Valley who are concerned about the future of the internet now that ex-NSA contractor Edward Snowden has revealed the extent of the agencys surveillance programs. Although companies such as Facebook may participate in many of the agencys efforts, the scope of the NSAs spying has taken even savvy Silicon Valley insiders by surprise. Widespread spying undermines everyones trust in the internet. To keep the internet strong, we need to keep it secure, Zuckerberg wrote. This is why Ive been so confused and frustrated by the repeated reports of the behavior of the US government. When our engineers work tirelessly to improve security, we imagine were protecting you against criminals, not our own government.

Things were once better between Zuckerberg and Obama. Just over two years ago, Facebook hosted a town hall meeting where the friendly discussion revolved around the economy. Back then, the U.S. Federal Trade Commissions scrutiny of Facebooks privacy policies was the topic most likely to come up in a private conversation. Since then, the tables have turned, and Zuckerberg is now the guy worried about privacy.

Today, Zuckerberg called on the feds to be much more transparent about what theyre doing, or otherwise people will believe the worst. But that isnt going to happen any time soon. Though the NSA has said that parts of yesterdays reports are incorrect, there remains much that is still unclear.

Go here to see the original:
Zuckerberg Phones Obama for Answers About NSA Spying