Tech firms under pressure to ease access to information

LONDON — United States technology companies are facing escalating pressure to allow the police and spies to tap smartphone data and emails in the name of fighting terrorism. So far, Silicon Valley has shown no sign that it plans to give in.

Mr Robert Hannigan, head of the United Kingdom’s surveillance agency GCHQ, said on Tuesday that Twitter and Facebook were being abused by terrorists and urged more cooperation from the industry.

US Federal Bureau of Investigationdirector James Comey similarly criticised technology firms in September for adding new safeguards that prevent law enforcement from gaining access to information stored in mobile devices.

Law enforcement and intelligence agencies, hindered by encryption technology, may lobby for legislation requiring firms to give them access, said Mr Daniel Castro, senior analyst with the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation.

That will be similar to how telecommunications companies are required to work with the government on phone taps.

Yesterday, Facebook said it had recorded a 24 per cent increase (to 35,000) in requests from governments around the world for data from a similar period last year.

Facebook supports an effort in the US Senate to require a warrant to compel companies to disclose stored content of an account, said Mr Chris Sonderby, the company’s deputy general counsel.

“(The Islamic State) is really freaking people out, with people being recruited via social media,” said Mr Victor Asal, director of the Center for Policy Research at the University of Albany.

“It’s really raising concerns to a much higher level than we’ve seen.”

The pleas from government agencies leave firms in a quandary. If they comply, technology companies risk being viewed by customers as incapable of protecting privacy, while resistance leaves them susceptible to continued allegations of abetting criminals.

“What (some) big companies have started to do is anchor their brands on privacy,” said Professor Brian Nussbaum of the University of Albany.

“Law enforcement has a hunch that this will become more of a trend, as sophisticated encryption becomes more widely available, and wants to prevent that door from closing.”

BLOOMBERG