MOUNTAIN VIEW -- Google (GOOG) responded sharply to the latest leaks about U.S. government Internet spying on Wednesday by issuing its strongest condemnation to date and calling for unspecified reforms of intelligence programs.
"We are outraged at the lengths to which the government seems to have gone to intercept data from our private fiber networks, and it underscores the need for urgent reform," the company said in a statement by its chief legal officer, David Drummond.
Yahoo (YHOO) responded more mildly, but other Internet industry officials and experts echoed Google in voicing dismay over a Washington Post report that the National Security Agency tapped into communications links that Google and Yahoo use to transfer vast amounts of customer emails and other files between overseas computer centers.
"This could be a game-changer," said an industry official who asked for anonymity, predicting the latest disclosure may lead Silicon Valley to take "a more aggressive stance in pushing for substantial reform." He said many companies have had fierce internal debates over what to say about NSA efforts to track Internet users' activity.
Up to now, most tech companies have avoided the debate over legislative efforts to rein in the NSA, although they have sought permission to say more about how they respond to legal demands for user data.
But experts warn that series of NSA revelations have put U.S. companies in an unfavorable light around the world and could lead corporate customers or foreign governments to react in ways that would interfere with an open Internet. Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff, for example, has reacted to the spying reports by calling for creation of a system that would keep Brazilians' data within her country's boundaries.
That could seriously undercut the efficiency of the Internet, which is designed to quickly route data anywhere in the world, said Joseph Lorenzo Hall of the Washington-based Center for Democracy and Technology.
Tech companies insist they don't give the government unfettered access to user data, while acknowledging they comply with legal demands. But the Post said the NSA tapped into Google and Yahoo networks through overseas transmission links, apparently without the companies' knowledge.
Google has stepped up a program to encrypt data when it's transmitted between data centers, partly because of what Drummond called long-standing concern "about the possibility of this kind of snooping." Yahoo hasn't announced any similar effort and didn't respond to questions; the company said only that it has "strict controls" to protect its data.
Contact Brandon Bailey at 408-920-5022; follow him at Twitter.com/BrandonBailey
"We are outraged at the lengths to which the government seems to have gone to intercept data from our private fiber networks, and it underscores the need for urgent reform," the company said in a statement by its chief legal officer, David Drummond.
Yahoo (YHOO) responded more mildly, but other Internet industry officials and experts echoed Google in voicing dismay over a Washington Post report that the National Security Agency tapped into communications links that Google and Yahoo use to transfer vast amounts of customer emails and other files between overseas computer centers.
"This could be a game-changer," said an industry official who asked for anonymity, predicting the latest disclosure may lead Silicon Valley to take "a more aggressive stance in pushing for substantial reform." He said many companies have had fierce internal debates over what to say about NSA efforts to track Internet users' activity.
Up to now, most tech companies have avoided the debate over legislative efforts to rein in the NSA, although they have sought permission to say more about how they respond to legal demands for user data.
But experts warn that series of NSA revelations have put U.S. companies in an unfavorable light around the world and could lead corporate customers or foreign governments to react in ways that would interfere with an open Internet. Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff, for example, has reacted to the spying reports by calling for creation of a system that would keep Brazilians' data within her country's boundaries.
That could seriously undercut the efficiency of the Internet, which is designed to quickly route data anywhere in the world, said Joseph Lorenzo Hall of the Washington-based Center for Democracy and Technology.
Tech companies insist they don't give the government unfettered access to user data, while acknowledging they comply with legal demands. But the Post said the NSA tapped into Google and Yahoo networks through overseas transmission links, apparently without the companies' knowledge.
Google has stepped up a program to encrypt data when it's transmitted between data centers, partly because of what Drummond called long-standing concern "about the possibility of this kind of snooping." Yahoo hasn't announced any similar effort and didn't respond to questions; the company said only that it has "strict controls" to protect its data.
Contact Brandon Bailey at 408-920-5022; follow him at Twitter.com/BrandonBailey