Too Little, Too Late?
Krish Raghav -
Wednesday, October 29, 2008 12:40 PM
Sure, news is coming in that three tech giants - in this case Messrs Google, Yahoo and Microsoft,
are signing a global 'code of conduct' to combat invasions of privacy and free speech online, and an
aura of do-goodiness is slowly but surely settling on these three - but hang on a second.
Buried somewhere within most of the reports is a disclaimer of sorts - the small print that effectively
demolishes whatever solid case such a code of conduct may have built for itself. I quote,
from the Wall Street Journal:
Google, Yahoo and Microsoft have maintained their legal obligation to abide by
a country's local laws. The new code doesn't fundamentally change that approach
because it acknowledges that companies still must obey local laws in the countries
where they operate.
If local laws supercede whatever the code of conduct stipulates - then what good does it do? The
traditional defense offered by tech giants when cornered with a censorship or privacy infringement
charge has always been 'we have to abide by local laws'. Think back to last year's much-publicized case about Google's Orkut and the Mumbai police, where the company agreed to share private user information with law enforcement to catch 'cyber offenders' - anything the police deemed 'objectionable content' could be used as a lever to extract private information.
Google, in response, told Nikhil Pahwa of then Contentsutra, and now Medianama:
What is important to note is that this new reporting tool does not
affect the way we treat users’ data – it only enables a faster, direct
communication. Authorities will still be required to follow an appropriate legal process in order to get user-identifying information.:
Agreed, the issue of HOW companies themselves treat user data is vital and important - but when we're dealing with free speech and censorship online, its legislation and law enforcement (and sometimes, ISPs) authorities that need to come under the scanner. I'm not saying let companies off the hook - I jumped at the chance to opt out of Google's targeted advertising the second it came out, and Im still quite uncomfortable with the whole idea of online 'targeted advertising', especially Facebook's much-dreaded Beacon.
(The picture is a rather befuddled Cyberman from the classic Doctor Who series)