Google joins growing coalition against government spying

When it comes to privacy, there are many people who worry that the government is spying on their online habits. In some cases, government spying might even be true. A growing number of major technology companies are joining in a coalition called the Reform Government Surveillance group.

The purpose of this group is to help limit so-called boundless government surveillance. The companies that have been in the coalition include AOL, Apple, Facebook, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Twitter, and Yahoo. Google has now added its name to the growing list of companies in the coalition. Many of the companies that are in the coalition are getting hit from both sides.

Consumers are complaining that the companies aren't doing enough to protect their data from the government. At the same time, the government is filing an ever-increasing number of requests for information on users. The coalition supports five general principals.

The principals include that the government should allow the companies to tell the public about demands for information on their users. The coalition also wants rules guaranteeing that the government won't force the providers to host infrastructure locally solely to give the government jurisdiction to demand immediate data access. The other principals include putting sensible limits on surveillance and imposing a system of checks and balances.

SOURCE: Android Community