Microsoft: Future 'bleak' if gov't continues unlawful data collection

Firm's top lawyer again calls for stop to "unfettered collection of bulk data," argues for reform of secret FISA court."
Microsoft's top lawyer continued his months-long public campaign to pressure the United States government to reform the secret data collection practices revealed in documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden in 2013."

*"I want law enforcement to do its job in an effective way pursuant to the rule of law," he said. "If we can't get to that world, then law enforcement is going to have a bleak future anyway."

Reaching into US history as far back as the presidency of John Adams, Smith said the current row was part of a broader debate that has periodically engaged Americans throughout their history: where to set the proper boundary between privacy and the individual. What's different today, he said, is the role technology plays in an increasingly connected world.

"By the end of this decade there will be 50 billon devices connected to the Internet of Things around the world," Smith said. "This issue is going to become more important, not less."

Earlier this month, Smith sharply criticized the government's data interception practices and said US cyberspying overreach had fostered a "technology trust deficit." Returning to that theme today, Smith cited the US Constitution's search and seizure protections in the Fourth Amendment and said Microsoft would continue to oppose what he described as unlawful government attempts to hack into US data centers at home or overseas."

http://www.cnet.com/news/microsoft-of-bleak-future-if-unalwful-govt-hacks-into-data-centers-persist/