Today, President Obama is expected to land in Silicon Valley. Yes, they’re security threats to talk about, like the health insurance company Anthem hack. But there’s an elephant in the room. The elephant is called: Tech and federal relations.
For decades, technology companies and the US government had a great alliance, from World War One to the Cold War to the 21st century War on Terror. Tech firms and corporations have been asked to help build equipment and strategies in war time to job creation and growth. But in 2013, that buddy-buddy relationship went sour when the NSA/Edward Snowden scandal broke out. Tech companies claimed the NSA forced them to turn over private consumer records, like cell phone conversations and social media posts. Many customers believed Silicon Valley and Washington were in collusion invading our privacy and violating our rights. Silicon Valley distanced itself as far from DC as possible. The net neutrality debate is hardly helping matters. Now this current administration wants to stop tech giants from strengthening encryption. They don’t want enforcement agencies cracking their codes. Now there’s the zero days controversy. The government wants to deliberately build up flawed software and use it to fight future enemies. I can only imagine how Silicon Valley feels about that one.
But yet hacking, security breaches, revenge porn, ID theft, and other cyber crimes are at all time highs. And this will be a part of the discussion as well. I hope they talk about security more than they do their disagreements. If the tech and government communities can come together to end wars, bring east and west together, and fight terrorism, surely they can come together to fight these cyber evils. I know you’re getting tired of hearing it, but we on the side of right need each other more than ever. Can tech and federal relations be improved?