{"id":436852,"date":"2022-04-24T23:56:29","date_gmt":"2022-04-24T20:56:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/google-investors-warn-saudi-data-project-could-be-used-by-hitmen\/"},"modified":"2022-04-24T23:56:29","modified_gmt":"2022-04-24T20:56:29","slug":"google-investors-warn-saudi-data-project-could-be-used-by-hitmen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/google-investors-warn-saudi-data-project-could-be-used-by-hitmen\/","title":{"rendered":"#Google investors warn Saudi data project could be used by hitmen"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2f672990305\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2f672990305\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/google-investors-warn-saudi-data-project-could-be-used-by-hitmen\/#%E2%80%9CGoogle_investors_warn_Saudi_data_project_could_be_used_by_hitmen%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;Google investors warn Saudi data project could be used by hitmen&#8221;<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CGoogle_investors_warn_Saudi_data_project_could_be_used_by_hitmen%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;Google investors warn Saudi data project could be used by hitmen&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>Google investors are poised to raise hackles over a controversial Saudi Arabia project at the search giant\u2019s shareholder meeting, warning that the company risks serving up \u201csensitive data on a silver platter to Saudi\u2019s top hitmen.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>The investors\u2019 concerns center around a major cloud computing center that Google is developing in partnership with Saudi Aramco, the kingdom\u2019s state oil company. The project was first <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/cloud.google.com\/blog\/products\/infrastructure\/google-cloud-announces-new-regions\">announced<\/a> in 2020, with Google saying it would help Saudi \u201ccustomers to confidently grow and scale their offerings in this market.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But the shareholders say that Google \u2014 whose corporate code of conduct tells employees \u201cDon\u2019t be evil\u201d  \u2014 could enable the Saudi government to spy on activists, journalists and other perceived enemies of the state.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>As evidence that the Saudi government is looking to infiltrate western tech firms, they point to two ex-<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Twitter<\/a> employees who were accused in 2019 of funneling private data about Saudi critics to an ally of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. They also see the brutal 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, which US intelligence says was <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>roved by bin Salman, as evidence the Saudi government shouldn\u2019t be trusted.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/google-axel_20.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Google \" class=\"wp-image-21969135\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/google-axel_20.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/google-axel_20.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/google-axel_20.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>\u201cGoogle is sidestepping its own human rights standards in favor of growth and profits,\u201d SumOfUs\u2019 Rewan Al-Haddad said. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">picture alliance via Getty Image<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThe Saudi Arabian government will stop at no end to snuff out anyone who dares challenge their autocratic rule and human rights abuses,\u201d Rewan Al-Haddad, campaign director for a shareholder group called SumOfUs that\u2019s working with the disgruntled investors, exclusively told The Post. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cGoogle is sidestepping its own human rights standards in favor of growth and profits, and while that\u2019s not necessarily shocking, it puts the lives of activists and dissidents in the region at serious risk,\u201d Al-Haddad added. \u201cA Google cloud center under Saudi\u2019s jurisdiction would basically serve our sensitive data on a silver platter to Saudi\u2019s top hitmen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When Google parent company Alphabet convenes its annual shareholder meeting in June, shareholders will vote on a proposal from SumOfUs members<strong> <\/strong>that would require the company to release a report on human rights risks related to its Saudi project, as well as detail any steps it\u2019s taking to mitigate those risks.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignright\">\n    <\/aside>\n<p>Google tried to block the resolution from being presented at the shareholder meeting, arguing that the company already has strong human rights protections and that the joint project with Aramco is part of \u201cday-to-day business operations\u201d not subject to shareholder resolutions. However, the Securities and Exchange Commission rejected that argument and ruled that the resolution must go forward, according to SEC filings.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The California-based tech giant has said that it already commissioned an \u201cindependent human rights assessment\u201d of its Saudi project, but has refused to give any details of the report or say who conducted it, according to SumOfUs. <\/p>\n<p> \u201cAlphabet has really tried to keep this quiet,\u201d the group\u2019s shareholder engagement advisor Christina O\u2019Connell told The Post. \u201cThey\u2019re not willing to show anyone any actual report or show us who did the report.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Google spokesperson Brittany Stagnaro did not provide any additional information about the report when reached by The Post. She referred The Post to Google\u2019s annual <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sec.gov\/Archives\/edgar\/data\/0001652044\/000130817922000262\/lgoog2022_def14a.htm\">proxy statement<\/a>, which was published on Friday.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/saudi-aramco-67.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Saudi Aramco \" class=\"wp-image-21969179\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/saudi-aramco-67.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=2048 2048w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/saudi-aramco-67.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1536 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/saudi-aramco-67.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/saudi-aramco-67.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Google\u2019s Saudi Arabia cloud project is being developed in partnership with state oil company Saudi Aramco.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">SOPA Images\/LightRocket via Gett<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWhen making business decisions about where to locate data centers, we consider a number of important factors, including human rights and security, as well as how to optimize our overall data infrastructure so as to provide a high level of performance, reliability, and sustainability, and we undertake human rights due diligence when expanding data center operations into new locations,\u201d Google said in the filing, urging shareholders to vote against the resolution. <\/p>\n<p>Other activist groups including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the Electronic Frontier Foundation have also warned that the deal could help Saudi authorities spy on dissidents, writing in a joint letter last year that <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amnestyusa.org\/press-releases\/google-must-halt-plans-to-establish-cloud-region-in-saudi-arabia\/\">Google must \u201cimmediately halt its plan\u201d<\/a> for the data center until the company can \u201cpublicly demonstrate how it will mitigate adverse human rights impacts.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGoogle\u2019s plan could give the Saudi authorities even greater powers to infiltrate networks and gain access to data on peaceful activists and any individual expressing a dissenting opinion in the Kingdom,\u201d Amnesty International\u2019s tech director Rasha Abdul Rahim said at the time.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/Mohammed-Bin-Salman-72.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman\" class=\"wp-image-21972131\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/Mohammed-Bin-Salman-72.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/Mohammed-Bin-Salman-72.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/Mohammed-Bin-Salman-72.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>\u201cThe Saudi Arabian government will stop at no end to snuff out anyone who dares challenge their autocratic rule and human rights abuses,\u201d activist Rewan Al-Haddad said. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>SumOfUs\u2019 shareholder push is complicated by the fact that Google\u2019s co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page can effectively veto any shareholder resolution through the company\u2019s dual-class share structure \u2014 similar to the one that allows Mark Zuckerberg to exert nearly complete control over Meta. <\/p>\n<p>Nonetheless, O\u2019Connell said the resolution will serve to draw attention of lawmakers and the public to Google\u2019s controversial projects regardless of whether it\u2019s nixed by Brin, Page and other company leaders. <\/p>\n<p>The lead filer on the resolution is a SumOfUs member named Mari Mennel-Bell. Five other shareholders also co-filed the resolution. <\/p>\n<p>Along with Saudi Arabia, the investors also want Google to publish human rights reports on separate products in Indonesia, Qatar and India \u2014 warning that all four countries have records of using the internet to crack down on political dissent.\n                        <\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/04\/24\/google-investors-warn-saudi-data-project-could-be-used-by-hitmen\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Google investors warn Saudi data project could be used by hitmen&#8221; Google investors are poised to raise hackles over a controversial Saudi Arabia project at the search giant\u2019s shareholder meeting, warning that the company risks serving up \u201csensitive data on a silver platter to Saudi\u2019s top hitmen.\u201d The investors\u2019 concerns center around a major cloud&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":436853,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/google-1.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[128411,26293,73823,73652,128427,81144],"class_list":["post-436852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-4-24-22","tag-google","tag-human-rights","tag-jamal-khashoggi","tag-rights","tag-saudi-arabia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=436852"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436852\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/436853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=436852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=436852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=436852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}