WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The US tech company Applico will seek to maintain customer confidence by rejecting the US government’s call for access to their metadata, company President and CEO Alex Moazed told Sputnik.
“Platforms' lifeblood depends upon their ability to retain their consumers’ faith in their privacy and data security,” Moazed said on Friday.
The US government is seeking to gain access to the metadata on US citizens’ electronic devices in order to monitor and stop any possible terrorist communications and plots.
“First, the technology community needs to see proactive efforts on behalf of the government to better respect the rights of individuals as well as tech companies,” Moazed explained.
US intelligence officials say terrorists use encryption software to communicate and avoid detection by intelligence or law enforcement, so US federal agencies want to persuade private companies to guarantee government access to data in criminal or national security investigations.
On Thursday, The Information Technology Industry Council President Dean Garfield said that the US government should not be allowed to weaken encryption on electronic devices for national security purposes because it will cause irreparable harm to the nation and its economy.
