Eight major tech companies have teamed up to call for new limits on how governments collect user information amid concerns of growing online surveillance, according to Reuters. The companies -- Google Inc, Microsoft Corp, Apple Inc, Facebook Inc, Twitter, LinkedIn Corp, Yahoo Inc and AOL Inc -- issued an open letter to President Barack Obama and Congress calling for reforms and restrictions on surveillance activities. Documents leaked by former spy agency contractor Edward Snowden revealed that the National Security Agency had penetrated and perhaps targeted some of the companies, prompting Microsoft, Google and Yahoo to increase encryption efforts. The campaign lists five major concerns including limiting governments' authority to collect users' information, transparency about government demands and avoiding conflicts among governments.
