Like something resembling a superhero movie, Monday morning brought a very curious piece of news. The often fractious group of companies, sometimes known as the Internet Giants, put their differences aside to fight for the common good. No longer would they stand for the tyranny of the surveillance state. Their users deserved better. Not quite as catchy as the Avengers, but the Reform Government Surveillance group has a score to settle.
This very public display of unity is essentially an acknowledgement from these large Internet companies that the public has begun to lose trust in them; and as a result, in the Internet as a whole. The likes of Facebook and Google have been running such a monopoly that they define the terms in which the web is experienced – but even they recognise that this isn’t completely unshakeable; if people lose faith in their services and move to alternatives, revenues will take a big hit.
However, a fundamental flaw in their argument is the double standard of condemning governments for data surveillance, while at the same time harbouring the unquantifiable amounts of data that governments wish to access in the first place. Charity begins at home, and the first step to rebuilding trust in an open Internet is to address their own data retention policies before pointing the finger elsewhere.
While Zuck is busy declaring there is “a real need for greater disclosure and new limits on how governments collect information” he should stay focused on how Facebook does the same. Google’s Larry Page also seems to have forgotten his company’s business model when he calls for the end to “apparent wholesale collection of data, in secret and without independent oversight.”
Trust is built on genuine and honest engagement and actions. All that appears here is empty, hypocritical rhetoric. The first step has been reached – it has been recognised that there is a problem. However, this announcement, without any demonstrable actions of improvement, falls some way short of where they need to be.
Before you blame the government for the filthy roads, clean your own yard!
