Sir Tim Berners-Lee , the man who invented the Internet, has made a statement that has further alarmed internet users, following the shock revelation that several major companies were sharing their data with the US government. Sir Tim Berners-Lee has said that the World Wide Web is facing a “significant” threat from those trying to control it in secret.
According to Berners, all of this includes laws such as SOPA, ACTA , etc., reports the Telegraph.
“If you can control the Internet, if you can tamper with what people say, or monitor any kind of communication, that is a very, very powerful weapon…if a corrupt government gets hold of it, it will enable them to stay in power forever,” he said.
His statements came on the heels of news about the NSA 's PRISM program . As we've reported in previous posts, PRISM can hold a huge amount of personal information from companies like Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, and others.
The publications also report that some British companies have a very well-concealed collaboration with top American spy agencies, which means they have had their hands on PRISM data since at least June 2010.
"Unwarranted government surveillance is an invasion of basic human rights that threatens the foundations of any democratic society," the inventor of the World Wide Web said.
He also urged internet users to demand increased legal protection and safeguards to protect their privacy and all their online communications. This includes, he said, their right to be informed when and why someone requests access to their data.
A few days ago it was revealed that the NSA, a US security agency, has been secretly collecting personal data for years in the hope of preventing and suppressing terrorist attacks.
The NSA director confirmed the news, but blamed the media for revealing the truth about the plan, saying that this move makes their job more difficult and that their goal is to defend the country.
The US president has also defended the PRISM program. And while the entire US government admits the existence of the PRISM program, Google, Facebook, Apple and Microsoft stubbornly deny any involvement.
