"What the....?" is right - you are reading from a script!
Google and Facebook both published responses to the PRISM accusations. You can find Googleâs response on their blog and Facebookâs by way of a Zuck status.
As I read through them, I noticed something that others have noticed - theyâre remarkably similar. In fact, it may seem as if theyâre using a generic script and basing their response off of that.
Hereâs some comparisons:
â-
Google: âAs Googleâs CEO and Chief Legal Officer, we wanted you to have the facts.â
Facebook: âI want to respond personally to the outrageous press reports about PRISMâGoogle: âwe have not joined any program that would give the U.S. governmentâor any other governmentâdirect access to our serversâ
Facebook: âFacebook is not and has never been part of any program to give the US or any other government direct access to our serversâGoogle: âWe had not heard of a program called PRISM until yesterday.â
Facebook: âWe hadnât even heard of PRISM before yesterday.âGoogle: âOur legal team reviews each and every request, and frequently pushes back when requests ⌠donât follow the correct processâ
Facebook: âwe review each request carefully to make sure they always follow the correct processesâGoogle: âthis episode confirms what we have long believedâthere needs to be a more transparent approachâ
Facebook: âWe strongly encourage all governments to be much more transparentâGoogle: âwe understand that the U.S. and other governments need to take action to protect their citizensâ safety. But the level of secrecy around the current legal procedures undermines the freedoms we all cherishâ
Facebook: âItâs the only way to protect everyoneâs civil liberties and create the safe and free society we all want over the long term.âââ
After first viewing the PRISM slides, I thought they were fake. After all, a program that large couldnât cost the government just $20m/year. However, there are six examples above where the responses by two large companies have been nearly the same. In addition, even Apple responded to the accusations within just a few hours of the leak! It wasnât in the middle of the day - it was late into the evening.
Something is up.
I donât know what is happening, but I do not like it.