Google Chief Architect: we only respond to specific orders about individuals

Google has officially denied being a part of PRISM. The way you phrased this statement makes it sound like the OP is sneakily leaving out the PRISM implementation, which would be sneaky if Google were a part of PRISM.

(this doesn't mean that Google's isn't flat-out lying about everything...but you seem to be alleging a contradiction where there is none, at least in the OP)

> "Also the US government has confirmed that systematic collection of user data was indeed happening for non-US citizens. What of that? Are they users of lesser rights in the eyes of Google, etc?"

NSA's mandate since its inception is to conduct surveillance of foreign communications suspected to be a threat to America...So while it's still worth arguing whether the surveillance they conduct is unethical or unproductive, it's not going to be worthwhile arguing whether they do it at all.

edit: removed sarcasting phrasing that was too assholish for a Friday after work.

I hope every non-american netizen realizes that their private communications are being systematically collected by US intelligence. It is now impossible to trust an american company.

Before the Internet, the ECHELON program was shown to have been used for private industrial espionage on foreign compagnies [1]. I assume this is happening on another scale entirely now, with the cooperation of Google, Apple, FB and MSFT.

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECHELON

The indisputable fact is that your company gathers a lot of private info online about its users for profit, make that for extra, extra profit. Best case scenario, it makes NSA's job super easy, all they have to do is ask for it. Worst case scenario, the government knows all our thoughts as we type on Google search and everything else we do on Google. I do not trust that such info will stay private. Not anymore.

>> the national security apparatus has convinced itself and the rest of the government that the only way it can do its job is to know everything about everyone. That's not how you protect a country. We didn't fight the Cold War just so we could rebuild the Stasi ourselves.

Yeah, WTF do they think they are, Google or Facebook?????

"I have various reasons to believe that the odds that I would have known about it are higher than those for most employees -- but it still wouldn't be a certainty. That said, the odds are good enough that I would be fairly surprised, and rather furious, to find out that such a thing had been happening without my knowledge."