DAVOS, Switzerland - The intersection of technology and privacy issues presents a unique challenge for businesses as governments increasingly seek to collect vast amounts of data on the public, a group of business and political leaders said Wednesday.
Speaking on a panel at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting, Senator Patrick J. Leahy, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said that privacy is a basic human right and shouldn’t be sacrificed in the name of security.
“We are collecting far too much information,†Mr. Leahy said. “It is not making us safer.â€
Bradford L. Smith, general counsel of Microsoft, said governments should obtain information about their citizens through a judicial process that falls under international law. He said Microsoft will continue to challenge governments in court if they haven’t followed the appropriate path to seek out such data.
“It is not our right - no one elected us - to simply decide we should turn over someone’s information,†Mr. Smith said.
Mr. Smith said the technology industry has hardened its equipment and embraced stronger encryption methods amid reports that the United States government tried to tap transmission lines between data centers for some of the nation’s largest Internet companies.
Augie K. Fabela, co-founder of the telecommunications company VimpelCom, said the wide collection of data can be used positively in areas such as education and health care, but that governments have been too broad in what they are seeking.
Mr. Fabela said his company has been successful in narrowing the scope of government requests.
“You need to target the real criminals,†he said. “You don’t need to target the entire population.â€
