Ironically, it is no secret that the United States government is covertly, and at the same time quite heavy-handedly, amassing their citizens metadata that is left behind as one unwittingly browses the depths and shallows of the internet’s macrocosm (that means universe to the amateur astronomer). This government collection process has created a fair amount of controversy. One viewpoint feels safer and more protected as the American government can and should use this data to catch “bad guys” such as pedophiles and terrorists, but the other position, which quotes George Orwell’s 1984 like scripture, harps on the premise that the US government will become something like soviet Russia always watching and breaching privacy on a daily basis. It seems the tech giants of silicon valley are joining the fray and contrary to the US government’s hopes and prospects Apple and Google are leading the charge for surveillance reform.

For the conspiracy theorists peace of mind Apple and Google are not the only two companies leading the crusade, but a host of other companies such as: AOL, Dropbox, Evernote, Facebook, Linkedin, Microsoft, Twitter and Yahoo that are also attacking the NSA. It is a “clash of the titans” — It is a “battle royale” between America’s technological industry and “big brother” himself. Some may even argue that this quarrel is more of a power struggle than blatant activism on the part of the tech companies. Recently this “tech coalition” has called upon the United States Congress to put down their “rose colored glasses” and take on a new reformation project. As of now no legislators have formally/wholeheartedly joined the “tech task force one” band wagon.

The reason no one in Congress seems to be budging on this issue is because it would show that power has shifted to American corporations. This ultimately shows the strength of the free market upon the American way of life. Every step silicon valley takes shakes the ground under the feet of the federal government. Most recently their was a secretive meeting in a secluded location where Apple and Google CEO’s met with government officials to discuss negotiations. The world is not exactly sure what exactly went down during the discussion but I think most can be rest assured that technology had a lot more proverbial ground to stand on than our hopeful “Uncle Sam”.

For some much needed exposition, this whole fight started with the government calling out Apple’s (in)famous Icloud. Last year the FBI  director, James Comey, complained that criminals could potentially opt out of having their files backed up on the Icloud, and the ability for people to lock away their files made “ a black hole for law enforcement”. The government offered a solution to Apple, allowing “back doors” to be implemented for the government to enter encrypted data but the tech companies retorted saying that hackers would be able to use the back doors just as much as the federal government. So not only does silicon valley have a practical reason to keep their regular system but their business basically depends on it. Internationally speaking, nobody wants to have America’s NSA have influence in their country. If America’s surveillance system is introduced to another nation it bodes bad business for the manufacturers which makes it economical suicide for America’s tech businesses.

The world is changing very rapidly and technology is the enzyme that is setting society on a fast track with no brakes. It is the era of cellphones and America’s tech industry holds a lot (some might say too much) power on the world stage. Silicon Valley’s quarrel with the American government might just be the first step into a much larger scale entity of consumerism and capitalism.

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