Leading technology companies have joined together to urge the US and other governments around the world to accept wide-reaching reform of their online surveillance practice.
Eight firms, including Facebook, Apple, Google, Microsoft and Twitter, have signed a joint letter warning that in many countries the balance between the need for security and the freedom of the individual had tipped too far in favour of the state.
The move follows the disclosures by the former US intelligence operative Edward Snowden revealing details of the mass surveillance techniques used by America’s National Security Agency and Britain’s GCHQ.
In their letter, addressed to President Barack Obama and members of the US Congress, the firms said government surveillance efforts should be “clearly restricted by law, proportionate to the risks, transparent and subject to independent oversight”.
They said: “We understand that governments have a duty to protect their citizens. But this summer’s revelations highlighted the urgent need to reform government surveillance practices worldwide.
“The balance in many countries has tipped too far in favour of the state and away from the rights of the individual.”
The release by Snowden of highly classified details concerning intelligence gathering techniques has angered politicians and intelligence agencies in both the US and the UK, with warnings that it was undermining the fight against terrorism.
However, Google senior vice president Ken Walker said that the disclosures showed the need for online privacy and freedom of expression to be protected.
“The security of user data is critical here which is why we have all invested so much in encryption and the fight for transparency around government requests for information,” he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.
Nick Pickles, director of privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch, said: “Governments should not need to be told by private businesses that it is wrong to collect data on every citizen, through secret processes subject to little or no oversight. Sadly, that is the position we find ourselves in.