Facebook to Apple Seek Restraints on NSA Spying Programs

Facebook Inc., Apple Inc. and four other U.S. technology companies asked lawmakers to restrain the National Security Agency, saying they want to “counter erroneous reports” they give intelligence agencies direct access to their servers.

“Our companies believe that government surveillance practices should also be reformed to include substantial enhancements to privacy protections and appropriate oversight and accountability mechanisms for those programs,” the companies wrote yesterday to Senator Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat who leads the Senate Judiciary Committee, and three other lawmakers.