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0 pointsgenerj9y ago0 comments

Google denied they have a similar program:

For its part, Google was the most unequivocal. Spokesman Aaron Stein e-mailed: "We've never received such a request, but if we did, our response would be simple: 'no way.'"[0]

I wonder if Google could even run a program like this while keeping it secret. Yahoo had their program discovered within weeks, and public within a year. Stamos could easily have immediately gone public in a way which would have prevented him from being prosecuted - say posting a blog post about how hypothetically Yahoo would implement such a system at the governments request, forwarding this on to Bruce Scheiner, and then refusing to comment if such a "hypothetical" program actually existed.

[0] http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/10/report-fbi-andor-...

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3 comments · 1 top-level

zzzcpan9y ago· 2 in thread

Well, you know, it would be insane for any company to admit something like this.

thomasahle9y ago

They could always reply something like what Microsoft did.

“We have never engaged in the secret scanning of email traffic like what has been reported today about Yahoo,”

Everybody else declined having received the request, Microsoft just declined doing exactly what the report said yahoo were doing. Seems a lot more "safe".

generjOP9y ago

But it also would be insane to make a provably false statement, leaving you open to lawsuits and probably enraging any would be whistle blowers. It would be even more insane to make your false statement more false than it needs to be.

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