Facebook Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is personally denying Facebook's reported involvement in the National Security Agency's secret PRISM Internet surveillance program.
From Zuckerberg's Facebook page:
"I want to respond personally to the outrageous press reports about PRISM:
Facebook is not and has never been part of any program to give the US or any other government direct access to our servers. We have never received a blanket request or court order from any government agency asking for information or metadata in bulk, like the one Verizon reportedly received. And if we did, we would fight it aggressively. We hadn't even heard of PRISM before yesterday.
When governments ask Facebook for data, we review each request carefully to make sure they always follow the correct processes and all applicable laws, and then only provide the information if is required by law. We will continue fighting aggressively to keep your information safe and secure.
We strongly encourage all governments to be much more transparent about all programs aimed at keeping the public safe. It's the only way to protect everyone's civil liberties and create the safe and free society we all want over the long term."
"Protecting the privacy of our users and their data is a top priority for Facebook. We do not provide any government organization with direct access to Facebook servers. When Facebook is asked for data or information about specific individuals, we carefully scrutinize any such request for compliance with all applicable laws, and provide information only to the extent required by law."
The statements, however, still leave wiggle room for Facebook's participation in some kind of surveillance effort or efforts. The point about "direct access" to servers, in particular, is leading some commentators to posit the NSA program may involve third party servers.
I've sued Facebook before, and I can say (at least in regards to Mr Zuckerberg's remarks about aggressive defence of privacy) that Facebook very powerfully withstands requests for data, even where courts have jurisdiction to take a copy of that data for use in a trial. I've experienced this first-hand, and whilst I don't feel like I have a choice but to use Facebook and whilst I don't particularly like Facebook or Mark Zuckerberg at all, I'm starting to have doubts about the truth behind PRISM.
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