More than a dozen high-tech companies and the largest wireless carrier in the U.S. Verizon Communications Inc has urged the U.S. Supreme court to tighten the government access to confidential data on mobile phones, reports Reuters.
The company filed a 44-page petition regarding the issue of whether the police can obtain a warrant to access the personal data that can identify the location of mobile phone.
The appeal was signed by such major Silicon Valley companies like Apple, Facebook, Twitter, and Google. They decided to apply because users ‘ personal data are increasingly collected with the aid of digital devices, therefore, the law should provide a higher degree of privacy protection.
«The fact that users rely on technology companies to process their data for the limited purposes does not mean that they expect access to their personal data will be able to government bodies without special orders», — stated in the message.
The company said that the Supreme court needs to clarify: when it comes to digital data that can reveal personal information, people should not lose the protection from the intrusion of government «simply because they use these technologies.»
