Today The Washington Post reports:
Google teams up with NSA aiming to build a better defense of Google's networks and its users.
Google to enlist NSA to help it ward off cyberattacks
"Under an agreement that is still being finalized, the National Security Agency would help Google analyze a major corporate espionage attack that the firm said originated in China and targeted its computer networks, according to cybersecurity experts familiar with the matter."
A more satirical view of the story can be found at Red Tractor USA
"Google announced today that it is joining forces with the National Security Agency (NSA) in an initiative to better track each and every person in the United States."
Alexandra Stålnacke - Senior Linguist | Hapax | OpenAmplify | FindAgent
Ouch... there it is. No more guessing about the privacy of your personal data.
Heh. And the first thumb-fingered attempt at NSA/Google collaboration... Google Buzz!
Not to rain on anyone's conspiracy parade, but I think a lot of people out there are reading a little too much into this (at least based on the information given). They way I understand it, all that's happening is that NSA is supposed to help Google be better prepared for future attacks.
Also, the article states:
" the alliance is being designed to allow the two organizations to share critical information without violating Google's policies or laws that protect the privacy of Americans' online communications"
which many people seem to be interpreting as they are trying to circumvent their privacy policies. More likely it means they are making sure peoples privacy stays protected. Unfortunately, NSA's reputation makes anything they're involved in automatically suspect.
Adam
Oh yes; my post, at least, was firmly tongue-in-cheek.
I do have some issues with NSA being the go-to agency for computer security, instead of NIST or FCC. Putting NSA in charge of that seems a bit fox-and-chicken-coop -ish. The origin of assigning them that responsibility back in the early 80s seems to have been nothing more than "Well, they're the only Federal agency that knows anything about it..." I think it's high time to revisit that decision.