good morning it's a real pleasure for me
to be here to be with you in year 15 of
the ia pp it's amazing to me because
every year this conference brings
together more people to talk about
issues that are more prominent and
focused on work that is even more
important than the year before and every
time I pause and think that maybe we're
reaching some plateau or even peak we're
all proven wrong and the issues grow
more prominent and important still it
reminds me of the immortal words said by
this person who I will bet almost no one
in this room recognizes innate yes
Charles Dickens in 1859 he penned two of
the most memorable lines in the history
of literature when he said it was the
best of times it was the worst of times
and in some respects I believe he could
have been talking about the state of
privacy in our own time I think that
there are big opportunities ahead for
data and what we can do for the world
you saw some of that captured this
morning in Alec's book as we think about
the industries of the future the
companies of the future the activities
of the future there are going to be
exciting opportunities in the physical
world the biological world in the
digital world and interestingly
regardless of what part of the world it
involves it almost always is going to be
connected to the cloud I think it's
worth pausing and reflecting on the
opportunities this creates to change
almost everything in some kind of
beneficial way I see this in the work
that I get to do take one of humanity's
oldest in the
agriculture was invented 23,000 years
ago and for 23 millennia people have
been doing the same thing they have been
planting vegetables in the soil but
using cheap sensors and the Internet of
Things and data it is now possible to
grow vegetables this way and what is
most interesting is that in a world that
is addressing climate change in a world
where there are water shortages this
form of Agriculture can require up to
90% less water made possible in part by
the cloud or take another invention it
was thirteen thousand years ago when
humanity invented coins and currency and
it became possible to buy things and
save money and borrow and yet even in
our own day and age even this morning
there are two billion people on the
planet who still do not have access to
blent to banking using the power of the
cloud a company named Temenos is
basically realizing that wherever there
is a phone there is access to a bank in
just the last 18 months they have
brought baking to 10 million new people
and as we look to the next five years it
becomes possible to imagine closing the
remaining gap or think about a third and
final example an invention from 3,500
years ago writing and as soon as
humanity and they invented writing it
became important to read and yet even in
our own day and age there were people
who struggle with reading there are
people who have dyslexia and yet we see
a company in Sweden opt Alexia using
inexpensive eye tracking hardware
connected to machine learning and the
power of the cloud to make new advances
as you see here namasté North Korea so
like Papa said I am iterative if you
have undiagnosed dislike
today this is gonna affect your whole
life not only is your reading scale poor
but it also affects your confidence and
your motivation in school our issues
with every pupil should have the right
kind of support in school as early as
possible screening methods they do not
measure reading performance at all the
optelec see a screening tool is based on
actual reading so what we do is let us
generate the short passage of text and
we Nikora eye movements use an eye
tracker who have been using wishes to
give to develop the client for recording
our moments design movements recordings
are sent to the cloud and are processed
using machine learning models to look
for patterns that's different shapes
normal reader from an aesthetic reader
the customer needs trust us that this is
secure solution this is sensitive data
Microsoft has helped us to take our
method from being a research product to
something that we can actually do live
in school and here we have the
possibility to help children become
better readers and to improve their
lives I think in a nutshell that shows
how big data has the opportunity to
bring big advances and real improvements
for people and yet also why the
sensitivity of data will be more
important than ever and in a sense that
points to the other side of Dickens
phrase these are also challenging times
and one sees this in the events of our
day one sees us in the events of
particular days certainly one of the
more momentous days of the last two
years was on November to 24 2014 it was
a Monday morning and in Los Angeles
millions of people got up the way they
do every Monday and they drove to work
and some people drove to work by going
through these gates at Sony Pictures
Entertainment little suspecting that
they were about to become part of what
Fortune magazine would call the hack of
the century
and even as they got to work and found
that their computers their email their
documents were not accessible little
could they imagine that the events of
the ensuing weeks would take their
company across the Pacific to North
Korea
and the conclusion that they had been
the victims of a state-sponsored cyber
attack even then little could they
imagine that events would continue to
propel them forward across the Pacific
again to Washington DC
we're on December the 19th 2014
the very last thing President Obama did
before boarding Air Force One to go to
Hawaii for his annual vacation was give
a press conference and say this again
I'm sympathetic that Sony as a private
company was worried about liabilities
and this and then the other I wish they
had spoken to me first I would have told
them do not I'll get into a pattern in
which you're intimidated by these kinds
of criminal attacks that as much as
anything else reflects the degree to
which the world has changed because I
can guarantee that the engineers and
computer scientists of the country in
the world the people that you advise the
people at OTT that I advise never went
to a university course that had a class
called
what to do when your work becomes the
subject of a presidential press
conference and yet there's more somber
aspects of the world in which we live as
well we see this in other days like
November the 13th of last year it was a
Friday and in Paris people started their
Friday evening the way they often do
they were out in the streets they were
out at dinner in a cafe on the boulevard
Voltaire a man walked in at 9:30 in the
evening and he sat down at the counter
he calmly ordered his dinner at nine
minutes later he blew himself up within
seconds the streets of Paris were filled
with the sounds of sirens and the sights
of police cars and the next morning the
boulevard Voltaire and other streets
look like this with flowers warning the
victims of the night before and yet a
few weeks later on December the second
in San Bernardino California the sights
in this
were similar there were police cars in
the street by day and mourners that
evening commemorating the 14 people who
had lost their lives within days and
weeks and months we saw the connection
between those events and the issues that
we work on as people ask new questions
about surveillance about encryption
about the Apple case a case that proved
that everybody we meet anywhere we go is
likely to ask us what our opinion is and
then share with us their own we live in
a world where the pendulum can swing
back and forth and I think more than
anything all of these issues and events
and trans call on us to ask one
fundamental question what do we want to
stand for I won't presume that we should
all stand for the same thing or is that
or even that there is only one right
place to stand different companies have
different business models different
countries have different cultures but I
think all of these events call on all of
us to ask and answer for ourselves this
question I'll share with you this
morning
one person's views on where I think we
might consider standing and if nothing
else share with you what I think the
issues are that speak to us in our day I
think first we do need to stand for the
proposition that we will continue to
keep people safe that's why in the tech
sector companies across our industry
have come together to bring cases to rid
the internet a botnets to work with
state attorneys general and other
officials around the world to address
tech scams it's why we made clear a
couple of weeks ago that in the wake of
the Paris attacks we had received 14
lawful orders from the police in Paris
and Brussels asking us for information
we were able to comply we did so and we
did so with an average turnaround time
of under 30 minutes but if we're going
to keep people safe we also need to keep
in for
nation's secure that's why when the
question was posed we had Microsoft it
was important to stand with Apple I
think that's why the whole tech sector
United to stand with Apple and although
the case is over the debate is just
beginning and we are all going to find
ourselves involved in a discussion not
just in this country but around the
world probably between now and the end
of this decade working through the
questions that surround the use of
encryption these will be critical but
there's also other aspects and other
issues that are critical as well I think
we need to continue to stand up for
transparency that's why we at Microsoft
were one of several companies that suit
our own government the United States
government in 2013 arguing that we had a
constitutional right under the First
Amendment in the United States to share
more information with the public about
the national security orders that we
received as somebody who's been a lawyer
for 30 years the case that we brought to
the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance
Court was like no other I had ever been
involved in most courts they have a
courthouse they have an address they
have a phone number you call the phone
number somebody answers in this case
it's all different you call the phone
number this is what you're here you have
reached the United States Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Court please
leave a message the legal process was
different in other courts you file a
brief you wait for the other brief to
come back so you know what the other
side is arguing against you in this case
we got the brief back but when we open
the pages to read it we've never seen
anything like it
this is why we didn't stop with the
court across our industry we took our
issues to the White House and it's why
we were all gratified when President
Obama on January 17 2014
went to the Justice Department gave the
speech in which he's depicted here and
put our country on a path to
surveillance reform
and even though we're not finished yet
even though there is more work to be
done we are moving forward and I think
it's important to give credit where
credit is due
companies across our industry have taken
new steps Google was one of the first
and it led the way in showing many of
the rest of us how we could publish
better and more transparency reports the
e FF has been a prod to all of us and
even though there are days when I ask
myself why are we being prodded today in
this direction it's all part of an
incredibly healthy and important
dialogue it's part of what has led us to
take more advances as a company
ourselves to publish more transparency
reports we also need to look beyond
transparency we need to stand up for
enterprises for many of us the companies
for whom we work that's why we at
Microsoft thought it was important as
did other companies in our industry to
go forward and get certification under
the model clauses and provide more
benefits to enterprises in Europe it's
why we brought a case in federal court
in 2014
challenging a subpoena from the FBI that
sought the email content of an
enterprise client it was and remains our
view that when the government wants
content that belongs to an enterprise it
should go to the enterprise it shouldn't
go to the cloud service provider it
should give the legal departments of the
enterprise itself the opportunity to
look at the order decide whether they
want to comply or go to court if that's
the right course of action this issue is
not over there will be more in the
coming weeks and months and I think this
too will be one of the prominent privacy
and surveillance issues of this year and
our time we also need to look even
beyond enterprises and we need to think
about and stand up for people globally
as I come especially to Washington DC as
I go to meetings around town I find
myself constantly reminding people who
work here
one fundamental fact only
four-and-a-half percent of the world's
people live in the United States we have
a responsibility to the world and to the
people of the world and we need to think
about that responsibility every day I
think we need to think about what we're
hearing from the rest of the world and
even when we don't always agree with
everything it is just so important that
we understand where people are coming
from that's why I thought it was so
interesting and important after the
European Court struck down the safe
harbor to listen to the voice of one of
the more interesting individuals who has
spoken out max schrems and listen to him
say this that you're afraid these
companies are doing with your data we
have the basic problem that we have the
mass surveillance scandal and we didn't
really have any consequences in Europe
there were like angry letters by
politicians but nothing really happened
and the ado was ready to go after the
companies because we as Europe we don't
have any jurisdiction over what the US
is doing and the internet on mass
surveillance but they need these
companies to help them to get all this
data and the idea was to go after the
companies because for example Facebook
the one that was in this case is
operating 82 percent of their worldwide
user base out of Dublin which falls on
the European jurisdiction they can
actually say if you ate foreign spy
agencies that very likely conflicts with
European fundamental rights and that was
pretty much the case that was brought in
a fact as he made clear he couldn't sue
the United States government but he
could sell sue US companies and he
concluded that in some cases the US
government might be getting its data
from US companies in the first place in
a nutshell it shows the challenge we
have in rebuilding trust including
across the Atlantic that's why the
privacy shield is so important is why I
believe it's the right first step to
take is strengthening privacy across the
Atlantic while we also recognize that
there will be other steps that we will
need to take in the years that follow no
single legal instrument can address all
issues for all time but it is so
important
that we continue to move forward as we
do so we need to think not only about
what happens to European data in the
United States but we need to think more
about what happens to European data in
Europe itself as we've found in our
lawsuit that started on this island
Ireland in this building this data
center we concluded that we needed to
file a lawsuit as we have to challenge
our own government's assertion that it
can use unilateral search warrants to
reach any email content anywhere in the
world as long as it wants it it can get
a magistrate to say it can get it and it
has jurisdiction over the company that
has that data inside that in our view
goes simply too far and as we've moved
forward with this fight that I think may
well end up later this year or next
before the Supreme Court we benefited
from the broad support of many of you
inside this room from people from 28
technology and media companies 23
associations and in advocacy groups 35
of the leading computer scientists in
America and the government of Ireland
itself the day those briefs were filed
together was probably the only day in
the last five years when the ACLU and
Fox News were actually on the same side
that shows the breadth of support that
we have and it's interesting because
this too is an issue that is moving to
other places one saw the month ago on
Capitol Hill when the witness for the
DOJ appeared before the House Judiciary
Committee and he had the opportunity to
listen to this the country of Ireland
decides that in fact you committed a
crime and they want your self back there
should they be able to simply
unilaterally go to an Irish Court issue
a warrant and come get you something
United if the country violence a bit of
an extradition request for me no no not
an extra no no they want to come call
your ass in
I would oppose that sir okay so in the
tangible world that's an example where
we have absolutely no authority
whatsoever to take a person by the way
us are otherwise from another sovereign
country but let's just look at at the
intangible world the piece of paper
reduced to a PDF because that's really
what we're talking about we're talking
about something that could be tangible
fairly quickly but happens to be an
electronic format correct certainly okay
and you want us to assume that somehow
as two US corporations Microsoft Apple
whoever it happens to be that in my
opinion the bully is being bullied by
the Justice Department today in some
ways you want us to believe that you
should throw out all the history of
extradition all the history of you don't
get it you get to ask another country
for it and you want to have an absolute
right to demand it and get it if a US
Court says it and you have jurisdiction
over the entity who could control the
bringing of it back electronically to
you is that correct
unfortunately the DOJ the answer is yes
that is correct that's exactly what they
want and that does go too far but I
think we need not only to stand up and
object to that we need to offer new
solutions and here there is cause for
hope hope in a new bilateral agreement
that is being negotiated this year
between the United States and the United
Kingdom and I think there's hope and new
business models like the data trustee
model that we have created in Germany
where an American company Microsoft
doesn't actually access the data but a
German company t-systems does
interestingly we found that when we
announced that it was news not only in
Germany it was news not only in Europe
it was news around the world the next
morning when people got up into Asia
they turned on CNBC and they saw this
funny Microsoft through the tech
industry a curve ball overnight
announcing a German data plan to tackle
US Internet spying
let's bring in Akiko has been poring
over the details of
this one Akiko I gotta think that the
reason that they would set up data
centers in Germany
I'm sure Germany likes the idea because
at one point America was hacking on
Ghaleb Merkel's phone and she was really
upset about that this is sort of a
reaction to Ed Snowden isn't it I mean
to keep it away from the pause of the
American NSA and those people yeah
absolutely Bernie you know American
companies have really struggled to
regain the trust of its customers abroad
in the wake of that disclosure from
Edward Snowden on NSA surveillance and
this agreement from Microsoft certainly
could have sweeping implications for the
tech industry it has once again injected
us into the mainstream of a great deal
of conversation it has sometimes
required that we step in to try to set
the record straight to explain what
we're trying to do what we're not trying
to do as I found myself trying to do the
day we announced that some very blunt by
doing this whatever sort of maybe the
philosophical view in the grander scheme
of things but it does deny the u.s. the
ability for surveillance of that data
well actually what this does is give
Europeans the confidence that if they
choose this option they their rights
will be protected by European law things
will have to go before a German
government or court and the United
States government can continue to work
in a lawful way by interacting with
other governments in this case the
German government but it will be done
pursuant to the international rule of
law that is what all of this is about
it's about ensuring that we live in a
world that is governed by law that we
have an Internet and that we have a
world where data is governed by law but
as we all recognize we need to modernize
the law we need good law and this is a
set of issues that I believe will likely
occupy everybody in this
room over the course of the next decade
as we engage in these debates as we work
to modernize the law we also need to
keep in mind one other thing I believe
we need to practice what we preach and
this is something that so many of you
are spending so much time advancing in
so many good ways it's what led we at
Microsoft yesterday to launch a new
privacy hub and unveil new privacy
principles to make clear not only what
we stand for but the way we're going to
stand for these principles and move our
technology forward in a way that enables
data to do what data should do to serve
people but also does so in a way that
enables people to do what they deserve
to do and that's know and control what
data we have and how it's being used as
we think about the future it is clear we
are all going to need to participate in
a broad conversation broader than the
conversations even that have taken place
in the first 15 years of this
organization we are going to need to
work together as we do that and as we do
so let's keep in mind three things first
privacy is an issue in fact it's not
only an issue it is one of the defining
issues of our time second as all of you
reflect privacy as a profession in fact
as you can see today it's one of the
most rapidly growing professions of our
time but more than this perhaps more
than anything
I believe that privacy is and should be
a third thing as well privacy is a cause
it is a cause worth embracing thank you
very much