Microsoft, Google to sue government over surveillance data

U.S. technology giant Microsoft Corp. said it will join with Google Inc. to sue the federal government over the right to publish surveillance data.

The firms asked the government to allow them to say more about when and where snooping eyes come across services and users. They made their requests in June seeking the right to disclose information about user data requests made under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). A number of meetings followed. But Microsoft and Google got no satisfaction from the government.

"We believe it is vital to publish information that clearly shows the number of national security demands for user content, such as the text of an email," Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith said in an online posting. "These figures should be published in a form that is distinct from the number of demands that capture only metadata such as the subscriber information associated with a particular email address," Smith added.

The US government insists its practices are within the law, but this has not stopped widespread public and industry condemnation of its actions.

Read more -here-

• Ireland fines TikTok 530 million euros for sending EU user data to China
• Xbox consoles, controllers, and games are getting more expensive
• Waymo partners with Toyota to bring robotaxis to everyone
• Meta launches standalone AI app rivaling OpenAI's ChatGPT
• US FCC to review spectrum sharing rules to boost space-based telecom
• Google is dropping support for its oldest Nest Learning Thermostats