Microsoft, Google input sought in probe of NSA spy programs

WASHINGTON — A U.S. board reviewing whether surveillance programs violate civil liberties wants to hear from companies including Google and Microsoft on what kind of data and access to servers they’ve given the government.

The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, appointed by President Obama, is reviewing the scope of National Security Agency spy programs and will recommend to Congress whether new controls are needed to curb the government’s surveillance authority.

Meetings with Internet and telecommunications companies will “shed light” on how they respond to orders to turn over data and whether the NSA has overreached, David Medine, the board’s chairman, said in a phone interview Tuesday.

“It’s valuable to hear company perspectives on how the programs operate,” Medine said. “We want to hear both sides of it. We want to hear the government side but we also want to hear the private-sector side.”

Medine said he decided to request meetings with companies and trade associations that weren’t asked to participate in the board’s first public meeting after Bloomberg inquired about the panel’s work.

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