SEATTLE (CBS Seattle) – Bill Gates doesn’t seem troubled by the revelations of massive data sweeps by the U.S. government.
Speaking to Jorge Ramos on Fusion TV, the Microsoft founder and philanthropist said, ”It’s not as though government surveillance is absolutely bad in all cases.”
He went on to say there needs to be a balance between government efforts to find terrorists and privacy for Americans.
“At the end of the day…we want to stop terrorism, we want to see if someone’s talking about nuclear weapons, or bioterrorism or various bad things,”
But he himself didn’t feel any need to worry about NSA snooping.
“Well certainly when I’m calling somebody on the phone, I don’t assume that’s being tapped into,” said Gates.
“When I’m sending emails, I’m willing to talk about confidential matters, what salary, who we’re going to promote, what we’re going to do in things. So there is a basic sense that whoever is providing that technology has to make it’s secure.”
Gates made the comments during a discussion about the goals for his Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which pledges to fight world poverty.
