Yahoo CEO feared jail over NSA scandal
By Alex Dickinson
September 12, 2013 | 10:48am
Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer speaks during the 2013 TechCrunch Disrupt conference on September 11, in San Francisco.
Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer has revealed her fear of being jailed and labelled a “traitor” if she revealed the extent of NSA snooping on user data.
Speaking at the annual TechCrunch Disrupt conference in San Francisco yesterday, Mayer responded to criticisms that she had not done enough to protect Yahoo users from a “tyrannical government”.
She said the company did all it could to scrutinize or fight government requests for Yahoo user data but had to do as directed or face imprisonment.
“If you don’t comply, it is treason,” Mayer said.
“We can’t talk about it because it is classified. Releasing classified information is treason, and you are incarcerated. In terms of protecting our users, it makes more sense to work within the system.”
Yahoo, Microsoft, Facebook and Google are fighting to reveal the extent of their co-operation with the NSA which has demanded data from the companies.
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