Microsoft GC Brad Smith has called for talks in order to strike a balance between surveillance and user privacy, which he has described as an “arms war”.
“Ultimately there are only two ways to better protect peoples privacy: stronger technology or better laws,” he said at a recent address at Harvard Law School. He said he would like a debate to take place in the heart of government and with the people, according to Computer World UK.
The magazine reported that Smith believes that Barack Obama could play a positive role. “The fact that we have a president right now who is a constitutional law professor is a great asset to the country,” Smith is quoted as saying.
He continued: ‘When should the United States government be able to reach into another country, into a data center built in another country, to get the data stored inside? One could understand a rule that would say, if you have an American citizen or resident, that is storing data in another place, one could imagine a public policy rationale that would enable the U.S. government to serve a warrant. That stands in sharp contrast to the current position that the Department of Justice is taking. They’re basically saying, if the data center was built or is operated by an American company then they can reach anything inside. That really goes to the heart of sovereignty.”
