Obama must lead debate on surveillance, privacy

[Commentary] Silicon Valley has backed President Barack Obama with votes and dollars. It's time the President said thanks. He can begin by supporting Yahoo's wish to disclose its efforts to protect consumers from government surveillance.

Peoples' trust in Google, Facebook, Yahoo and other companies that collect user data depends largely on the belief that privacy is reasonably protected. President Obama should support letting the public see arguments they made showing this concern before the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. Yahoo told Mercury News reporter Brandon Bailey last week it had "objected strenuously" in a 2008 case that led tech companies to cooperate with controversial data-gathering. Americans should know if Yahoo tried to protect consumers' interests. Today, the impression is that tech companies simply caved to government demands. If President Obama believes the surveillance programs he supports are critical to Americans' safety, he needs to be the Educator in Chief. He needs to help people understand what they accomplish. Having said in San Jose on June 7 that he welcomes a debate on this, he needs to lead it.