#usersfirst

By Ron Bell, General Counsel

Today Yahoo joins Apple and many others across the technology industry and the security community to argue against the U.S. government’s efforts to conscript a company’s own engineers to undermine its products’ data security features.

Let’s be clear about what’s at stake.

This case isn’t simply about letting the FBI pick the lock to a dead terrorist’s phone. It’s about whether governments can conscript private companies to disable security features built into their devices. Should the U.S. government prevail in its arguments, the All Writs Act—a statute enacted 50 years before the telegraph—could be used to compel companies to write code to defeat their own security protocols. Once courts open that door, as FBI Director James Comey said just days ago, the case would become “potentially precedential.” More is at stake than a single iPhone.

Although we deeply respect the important role that law enforcement agencies play in protecting the public, such agencies already have access to important information to help them advance their investigations. Existing laws allow agencies to compel companies to respond to lawful data requests—as Apple already did in this case. But the FBI cannot secure through the courts a compulsory power never granted by Congress. It cannot read unprecedented new authority into an 18th century statute to compel 21st century companies to act in ways that undermine user security.

We felt shock and fury at the slaughter of innocent Americans by the user of the iPhone in question during a terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California. We mourned the loss of life and recognize the need for governments to protect their citizens. Yahoo’s commitment to security compels us to both thoughtfully respond to lawful requests, and to build products that create a more secure user experience.

Yahoo has a long history of objecting to government conduct that we believe undermines users’ interests: Our company challenged the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) from 2007 - 2008 in response to a request we viewed as unconstitutional and overbroad. We became the first major tech company to launch a Business and Human Rights Program to protect and promote freedom of speech online. We co-founded Reform Government Surveillance, a coalition dedicated to ensuring that government law enforcement and intelligence efforts are rule-bound, narrowly tailored, transparent, and subject to oversight. And we fought in court for the right to publish a semi-annual transparency report to share which governments request data from us, and how we respond. 

By Jay Rossiter, SVP, Product & Engineering, Science & Technology

I’m so pleased to welcome Bob Lord as Yahoo’s new Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). Bob brings more than twenty years of significant experience in the information security space, most recently as CISO-in-Residence at Rapid 7. Before that, Bob was Twitter’s first security hire, heading up their information security program. In this role he established Twitter’s efforts in compliance, application security, product security, and information security. Previously he held positions in product and information security at companies like Red Hat, AOL, and Netscape.

Security has never been a more important priority for our company and the subject of global debate than right now. At Yahoo, we’re committed to protecting our users’ security and maintaining their trust. We offer users encrypted products, provide an end-to-end encryption plugin on GitHub for Yahoo Mail, offer two-factor authentication, and have taken an important step toward a password-free future through Yahoo Account Key, which allows users a fast and secure way to access their Yahoo accounts.

Bob will lead our security team -- known as the Paranoids -- in offensive and defensive protection of our more than one billion users around the world and for our employees globally. He’ll work closely across our teams and collaboratively across the industry to ensure that we’re providing the highest level of security possible to our users, and continue to provide our users with the latest security innovations.

By Larry Goldberg, Director, Accessible Media

At Yahoo, we work to create products that can be enjoyed by everyone. Great design demands nothing less. Whether a person is disabled or not, products that are conceived and designed with every individual in mind are simply better products.

The reality is that most recent graduates with computer science degrees do not have experience or appreciation for the need to build for disabled individuals. We recognize that we need talented engineers with experience developing accessible products to make our products available to everyone.

To find engineers with the appropriate skill set, Yahoo, along with a number of tech industry partners, will include standard language in open job requisitions to indicate that we prefer engineering candidates with accessibility experience. This is a huge step toward ensuring that products across the industry are designed with every individual in mind. For a full list of companies committed to this initiative, check out teachingaccessibility.com.

We’ve timed this announcement that we’ll recruit accessibility-minded engineers with the 25th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA25), coming up this Sunday, July 26th.

While making all tech products accessible is not mandated by law, Yahoo and our peers believe that it is simply the right thing to do. We want to make sure that our users have equal access to the services we provide, whether or not they’re disabled. And, what better way to celebrate ADA25 than by recruiting engineers who have the technical chops to carry on the legacy of this important legislation!

We’re pleased that several major academic institutions have joined us in this effort - check out the full list here. These universities are considering how to prepare students of technology to build with accessibility in mind. This commitment to teaching accessibility will help ensure that future generations of engineers have the skill sets needed to qualify for positions -- such as those at Yahoo -- that state a preference for such experience.