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Tim Cook and Other Tech Executives Meet with President Obama to Discuss Government Surveillance

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In June, reports surfaced of a top secret surveillance program named PRISM, which according to leaked presentation slides was claimed to allow the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) direct access to user data on servers across a wide spectrum of Internet companies, including Apple. Now, Politico is reporting that a meeting between President Barack Obama and technology executives including Apple CEO Tim Cook took place earlier this week to discuss the subject of government surveillance. The meeting was reportedly confidential and was the second meeting this week in which top government officials held discussions with representatives from the technology industry to examine mainstream privacy issues.

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President Barack Obama hosted Apple CEO Tim Cook, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, Google computer scientist Vint Cerf and other tech executives and civil liberties leaders on Thursday for a closed-door meeting about government surveillance, sources tell POLITICO.

The session, which Obama attended himself, followed a similar gathering earlier this week between top administration officials, tech-industry lobbyists and leading privacy hawks, the sources said. Those earlier, off-the-record discussions centered on the controversy surrounding the NSA as well as commercial privacy issues such as online tracking of consumers.
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Earlier this year, a conservative activist and three others sued Apple among other companies and the U.S. government over alleged privacy violations resulting from supposed participation in the NSA's PRISM intelligence program.

After the lawsuit, Apple issued a "Commitment to Customer Privacy" statement addressing the issue, implying that no agency has had direct access to customer data and that each request for data by law enforcement is strictly evaluated. And last month, Apple signed on to an alliance of dozens of technology companies asking for greater transparency with regard to the NSA's surveillance program.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the comment thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All MacRumors forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Article Link: Tim Cook and Other Tech Executives Meet with President Obama to Discuss Government Surveillance
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2013/08/09/tim-cook-and-other-tech-executives-meet-with-president-obama-to-discuss-government-surveillance/
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Jsameds

Suspended
Apr 22, 2008
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In a perfect world all our data would be private. Trouble is, we don't live in a perfect world.
 
Battlefield Fan

Battlefield Fan

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Mar 9, 2008
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Jsameds said:
Don't buckle, Tim! Tell them they can't have it!
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Agreed! The government has to stay out of our business. I'm tired of the government not being transparent like they claimed they were going to be. I work with cloud services for a living so every time news comes out about the government ramming their way into different clouds it makes it harder to sell to clients because it scares them away.
 
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alvindarkness

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Jul 11, 2009
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I really dont like this whole meeting behind closed doors, and confidential discussions stuff. When it is the rest of us that will reap the rammifications.
 
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ValSalva

ValSalva

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Jun 26, 2009
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Burpelson AFB
How can Apple really resist the government and the wealthy interests who pull the strings of government? The United States is a police state now. Maybe it always has been but recently the hostility and fear has been escalated.
 
BenTrovato

BenTrovato

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Jun 29, 2012
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Gov't released the ban on iPhones and iPads earlier... they scratch Apple's back, Apple bends over and gives them our data. Kind of stupid how the world is the way it is now with all this surveillance.
 
newyorksole

newyorksole

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Apr 2, 2008
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New York.
I still don't understand why some people are so concerned. There are millions of people in America. If you're not doing anything illegal or harmful, why are you so worked up about "being watched"?

You know how many secrets and technology the government must have? You'll never know.

I'm not saying to not care about it, but there's NOTHING you can do.
 
niuniu

niuniu

macrumors 68020
Mar 29, 2009
2,311
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A man of the people. The right sort of people.
newyorksole said:
I still don't understand why some people are so concerned. There are millions of people in America. If you're not doing anything illegal or harmful, why are you so worked up about "being watched"?

You know how many secrets and technology the government must have? You'll never know.

I'm not saying to not care about it, but there's NOTHING you can do.
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Better to voice discontent than bend-over and take it in the ass.
 
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reckless2k2

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Jul 10, 2008
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I'm really disappointed to hear politicians on both sides justify this over-reach by the Government. The erosion of our Constitution continues and that pesky 4th Amendment doesn't seem to matter much anymore.

Sad that those that are supposed to defend it are contributing to its demise.
 
phillipduran

phillipduran

macrumors 65816
Apr 30, 2008
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Bring the SOB a copy of the constitution and remind him of his requirements to uphold and protect citizens rights. :mad:
 
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reckless2k2

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Jul 10, 2008
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newyorksole said:
I still don't understand why some people are so concerned. There are millions of people in America. If you're not doing anything illegal or harmful, why are you so worked up about "being watched"?

You know how many secrets and technology the government must have? You'll never know.

I'm not saying to not care about it, but there's NOTHING you can do.
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The true danger is one that doesn't know their rights.
 
phillipduran

phillipduran

macrumors 65816
Apr 30, 2008
1,055
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Battlefield Fan said:
Agreed! The government has to stay out of our business. I'm tired of the government not being transparent like they claimed they were going to be. I work with cloud services for a living so every time news comes out about the government ramming their way into different clouds it makes it harder to sell to clients because it scares them away.
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They have this mindset that they have to do something. This is also fueled by too many people looking to the government to solve all problems. They are tasked with our protection, but sometimes they need to look us in the eye and tell us, we can only do so much, you are a free people and we are not going to trample your rights to go after every possible terrorist. This means some will succeed in causing harm to our cities or citizens and you will just have to accept that, but we will not trample your freedom for your security. The American people also have to accept that and not give the govt a blank check to rifle through our lives on this hunt for ultimate security.
 
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hlfway2anywhere

Cancelled
Jul 15, 2006
1,544
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newyorksole said:
I still don't understand why some people are so concerned. There are millions of people in America. If you're not doing anything illegal or harmful, why are you so worked up about "being watched"?

You know how many secrets and technology the government must have? You'll never know.

I'm not saying to not care about it, but there's NOTHING you can do.
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Innocent people are being detained for things they say on the internet that have been taken out of context. Some of us are tired of being complacent and the government has gotten out of control.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeremy-carp/should-i-care-about-nsa-surveillance_b_3461917.html
 
cyclotron451

cyclotron451

macrumors regular
Mar 16, 2005
220
1
Europe
I'm supposed to be beta-testing "Keychain in iCloud"

instead, I've de-activated much of the iCloud functionality in the Apple test systems I'm testing. I'm not joking/playing about with this - my job requires that I take this step. Personally I agree that the US economy might have lost $35Billion in potential ICT Cloud provisions due to 'foreigners' pulling out of US hosting plans. It looks a bit like blowback to me?
 
Mr Fusion

Mr Fusion

macrumors 6502a
May 7, 2007
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pancakedrawer said:
It's disappointing to see our supposedly democratic nations resisting against the internet and all the freedoms it offers.
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Well put... "supposedly democratic."

Corporations run countries now. Us regular citizens only get a "choice" between several puppets hand-picked by big business and billionaires. Perhaps there never was a real choice even in the past, but it's crystal clear there isn't one now, nor ever will be again.

Why? Because it would take good people to change things. And good people would never get near the soul-stripping, personal-life-intruding political campaign machine that's in place today.

I think the tipping point is the economy. Economies are games, and right now there's still enough people willing to play to keep things in order. Once enough people wake up and realize they can't play anymore or ever had a chance, well... Game over. :(
 
Rocketman

Rocketman

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Dec 2, 2001
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Claremont, The intellectual capitol of the world.
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unplugme71

macrumors 68030
May 20, 2011
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reckless2k2 said:
The true danger is one that doesn't know their rights.
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Do you know yours? Last I checked, there's millions of laws out there just in the US. Some of which contradict each other, don't apply to us, etc. Can you honestly tell me you know all of them and abide by them?

Did you know in some states you can't cross a goat across the street?
 
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