Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt is to head the Pentagon’s new Innovation Advisory Board. The board will consist of 12 members that would be hand-picked by Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and Eric Schmidt. The cosy relationship between Google and the government is worrisome, according to Wikileaks founder and whistle-blower Julian Assange. Sputnik reports: On Wednesday, the Defense Department announced that former Google CEO Eric Schmidt will head the Pentagon’s new Innovation Advisory Board. Consisting of 12 executives, the board will be handpicked by Schmidt and Defense Secretary Ashton Carter. The move by Schmidt, who is credited with developing Google into the world’s most popular search engine, will likely put the company’s highly-publicized “don’t be evil” mantra to the test. The company, much like the Pentagon and US anti-terrorism agencies, has come under fire in recent years for its indiscriminate data collection and surveillance practices. Google, however, has been a leading voice against the tech community’s increasing refutation of widespread data accumulation by government agencies, arguing that data used properly can advance what it considers to be the public wellbeing. Google publicly claims that it uses data not only for advertising purposes, but to connect users with vital public services, including personalized travel and health preferences. The company has also developed its machine intelligence assets, including a self-driving [...]