Facebook, Microsoft, Apple Make Year-End Lobbying Push to Curb NSA Spying

Trade groups representing Facebook Inc. (FB), Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and Apple Inc. (AAPL) are pushing the Senate to pass legislation limiting National Security Agency spying before the Republican majority takes control of the chamber.

A coalition of Internet and technology companies, which also include Google Inc. (GOOG) and Twitter Inc. (TWTR), support a bill the Senate plans to vote on Nov. 18 to prohibit the NSA from bulk collection of their subscribers e-mails and other electronic communications. Many of the companies opposed a Republican-backed bill the House passed in May, saying a loophole would allow bulk collection of Internet user data.

Members of the Consumer Electronics Association have already lost contracts with foreign governments worth millions of dollars, in response to revelations about U.S. spying, Gary Shapiro, president and chief executive officer of the group that represents Apple, Google and Microsoft, wrote in a letter sent to all senators on Nov. 13.

The clock is ticking. If a final bill isnt reached this year, the process for passing legislation would begin over in January under a new Congress controlled by Republicans, many of whom support government surveillance programs.

U.S. Internet and technology companies are confronting a domestic and international backlash against government spying that may cost them as much as $180 billion in lost business, according to Forrester Research Inc. (FORR)

The issue emerged in June 2013 when former NSA contractor Edward Snowden revealed a program under which the U.S. uses court orders to compel companies to turn over data about their users. Documents divulged by Snowden also uncovered NSA hacking of fiber-optic cables abroad and installation of surveillance tools into routers, servers and other network equipment.

The NSA's Gigantic Haystack

Apple and Google have retaliated by offering stronger security, including on new smartphones, that will automatically shield photos, contact lists and other documents from the government. That, in turn, has heightened tensions with law enforcement agencies that want access to the data for criminal investigations.

The Senate bill, S. 2685, would end one of the NSAs most controversial domestic spy programs, through which it collects and stores the phone records of millions of people not suspected of any wrongdoing. In addition to curbing data collection, the legislation would allow companies to publicly reveal the number and types of orders they receive from the government to hand over user data.

Instead, the NSA would be required to get court orders to obtain the records, such as numbers dialed and call durations from Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) and other carriers. The phone records dont include the content of communications, and the carriers would be given liability protection and compensation under the bill.

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Facebook, Microsoft, Apple Make Year-End Lobbying Push to Curb NSA Spying