Tech execs to confront Obama on spying

Executives from the nation’s biggest technology companies will meet with President Obama on Tuesday to discuss the revelations about National Security Agency surveillance.

The meeting will include Apple CEO Tim Cook, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, Twitter CEO Dick Costolo, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, Google Chairman Eric Schmidt, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts and AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson. 

{mosads}Several Silicon Valley giants including Google, Facebook and Yahoo are lobbying Congress to restrict the NSA’s powers and make the agency more transparent. They warn that the surveillance is undermining trust in their services and hurting both their bottom lines and the U.S. economy.

A White House official said that in addition to discussing “the economic impacts of unauthorized intelligence disclosures,” the president will also discuss progress in HealthCare.gov, the troubled ObamaCare website. He will talk with the tech CEOs about how government could improve its technology services, the official said.

The president also plans to discuss how the administration could partner with the tech sector to boost the economy, create jobs and reduce inequality, according to the official.

The meeting is the latest sign that Silicon Valley is serious about influencing Washington policymaking. The sector has also been an important fundraising base for Obama and the Democratic Party. 

The CEOs who will attend Tuesday’s White House meeting include: 

·         Tim Cook, CEO, Apple

·         Dick Costolo, CEO, Twitter

·         Chad Dickerson, CEO, Etsy

·         Reed Hastings, Co-Founder & CEO, Netflix

·         Drew Houston, Founder & CEO, Dropbox

·         Marissa Mayer, President and CEO, Yahoo!

·         Burke Norton, Chief Legal Officer, Salesforce

·         Mark Pincus, Founder, Chief Product Officer & Chairman, Zynga

·         Shervin Pishevar, Co-Founder & Co-CEO, Sherpa Global

·         Brian Roberts, Chairman & CEO, Comcast

·         Erika Rottenberg, Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, LinkedIn

·         Sheryl Sandberg, COO, Facebook

·         Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman, Google

·         Brad Smith, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Microsoft 

·         Randall Stephenson, Chairman & CEO, AT&T