Executive Chairman of Google Eric Schmidt spoke at South by Southwest Interactive today with Google Ideas Director Jared Cohen, and addressed growing privacy concerns dealing with Google and the information-gathering of the National Security Administration.
He also discussed the growing economic disparity and mounting tensions in the city of San Francisco, Google’s home base.
According to CNBC, Schmidt said that Google was already working on a solution to improve its data encryption systems after the attacks from the Chinese in 2010.
Edward Snowden’s reveal in 2013 that the US government was essentially wiretapping the Internet forced Schmidt to make the encryption improvement a priority. “We were attacked by the Chinese in 2010 and the NSA in 2013,” Schmidt said at the event. “We are pretty sure the information that is inside of Google right now is safe from prying eyes, especially the government. We think your data is very safe.”
As for the backlash to Google and other Silicon Valley workers, Schmidt thinks it’s a growing concern. “We are very, very worried about this issue and the data suggests that the problem could get worse,” Schmidt said. He did however say that progress was inevitable, and things may get worse before they get better.