Dear Google users—
You may be aware of press reports alleging that Internet companies have joined a secret U.S. government program called PRISM to give the National Security Agency direct access to our servers. As Google’s CEO and Chief Legal Officer, we wanted you to have the facts.
First, we have not joined any program that would give the U.S. government—or any other government—direct access to our servers. Indeed, the U.S. government does not have direct access or a “back door” to the information stored in our data centers. We had not heard of a program called PRISM until yesterday.
Second, we provide user data to governments only in accordance with the law. Our legal team reviews each and every request, and frequently pushes back when requests are overly broad or don’t follow the correct process. Press reports that suggest that Google is providing open-ended access to our users’ data are false, period. Until this week’s reports, we had never heard of the broad type of order that Verizon received—an order that appears to have required them to hand over millions of users’ call records. We were very surprised to learn that such broad orders exist. Any suggestion that Google is disclosing information about our users’ Internet activity on such a scale is completely false.
Finally, this episode confirms what we have long believed—there needs to be a more transparent approach. Google has worked hard, within the confines of the current laws, to be open about the data requests we receive. We post this information on our Transparency Report whenever possible. We were the first company to do this. And, of course, we understand that the U.S. and other governments need to take action to protect their citizens’ safety—including sometimes by using surveillance. But the level of secrecy around the current legal procedures undermines the freedoms we all cherish.
Posted by Larry Page, CEO and David Drummond, Chief Legal Officer
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I started the day by going to Goin' Postal in the Food Maxx Shopping Center on the corner of Tuolumne and Redwood Streets to pay on my postal box rental and to drop-off a couple of bill payments. Then, I went to the Chase Bank inside of Food Maxx to make a deposit into my checking account.
And I went to Selecta Pilipino Buffet at the Springstowne Shopping Center, on Springs Road, to have a combo Breakfast and Lunch ( my first two meals for the day all rolled into one---Nope, I don't think it qualifies as a Brunch based on its sheer size ). I also bought some lottery tickets while I was there. I spent a total of $17.71 for everything ( it used to cost me just $17.58 ).
As I was leaving the shopping center at 1:25 p.m., I passed by a Dunbar Armored Truck similar to this one that I found on the Internet:
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It was picking-up money from one of the stores or shops. I saw something funny about it which made me laugh: The front left fender was dented! That does not necessarily inspire confidence in any of its armored crew personnel. Ha, ha, ha.
After the movie, an Asian woman driver bitch cut me off and a crossing female pedestrian. I was so shocked and in disbelief that I forgot to honk my horn at her to remind her of her recklessness! This happened at approximately 4:16 p.m. She's probably the same kind of woman driver who does some texting while she's driving! F*cking irresponsible lowlife woman driver bitch ( a "Vallejo Crowd" member, in all probability ).
I went to the MacDonald's Restaurant on 902 Admiral Callaghan Lane at the Target Shopping Center to have some Sweet Tea and Chocolate Chip Cookies ( $2.17 ), to get out of the hot afternoon sun and to blog about this movie. I first called my Chiropractor's clinic, after I parked my car in the shade, to reschedule my Monday appointment because my manager at work scheduled me to work the midnight shift and I wouldn't be able to make it to my 8:30 a.m. appointment in time. I moved my schedule to between 9:30 and 10:30 a.m. And I also have a 4:45 p.m. doctor's appointment in San Francisco--there's goes my sleep-time ....
note: I'm now on Chapter 17 of the manuscript that I am writing for a children's book. My BUTT-BITING MONSTER book. Originally, I imagined my story to have only 15 chapters. But I realized that I needed to break down the last chapter into more "bite-sized" pieces. Otherwise, Chapter 15 would end-up being a very, very, very long chapter, putting it in sharp contrast to the rest of the chapters which are short in comparison. So, I decided to make it an 18 chapters long story. But, at 18 chapters, it would end on a melancholic note---And I like happy endings, don't you? So, I decided to add another chapter to it, Chapter 19. Here's the current breakdown:
CHAPTER 15: The Escape
CHAPTER 16: The Dream
CHAPTER 17: The Unexpected
CHAPTER 18: The Legacy
CHAPTER 19: The Purge ( incidentally, this is also a title of a movie currently showing on the Big Screen )
EPILOGUE ( i.e. afterword )
NOTES, "the-making-of"
I should be contacting book agents within the next two weeks or so. And, hopefully, one of them will like it enough to represent me. Overall, it is a very funny--at times, sad--"butt-centric" story that I truly enjoy writing; I can't wait to finish writing it. ( It has got some catchy tunes in it, too! Ha, ha, ha. )
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