Ever since the full extent of government surveillance in the United States was revealed, millions of people and thousands of companies and organizations have called on Congress implement mass surveillance reform. Among these is the Reform Government Surveillance coalition, which comprises of several major technology companies, Google being the newest among them, and is pressuring Congress to do something about the NSA spying on American citizens.
Google, along with other tech giants like Microsoft, Apple, Facebook and Twitter, is calling on Congress to end the bulk collection of communications metadata by US government agencies like the NSA. The Reform Government Surveillance coalition, made up of 10 major tech companies, is joining with civil society groups and trade associations to urge legislators to introduce greater transparency and accountability around surveillance programs. The group has addressed a letter [PDF] to President Obama, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and NSA director Admiral Michael Rogers and others, calling for reform ahead of the expiration date of Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act in May. It sanctions the bulk collection of communications metadata. The same group of companies previously pushed for the USA Freedom Act in November to curb mass data collection by the NSA, but the vote to proceed failed.