Government argues that Internet companies shouldn't reveal when they turn over information
Source: AP
October 02, 2013 at 11:39 PM
A federal court should not permit five leading Internet companies to reveal how often they are ordered to turn over information about their customers in national security investigations, the government argued in papers released Wednesday.
In a filing with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, the government said that allowing the companies to release such detailed information "would be invaluable to our adversaries," providing a clear picture of where the government's surveillance efforts are directed and how its surveillance activities change over time, the court papers stated.
Companies seeking to release the information about the orders received are Google Inc., Microsoft Corp., Yahoo Inc., Facebook Inc. and LinkedIn Corp.
Yahoo responded that the government's decision to block information sharing "ultimately breeds mistrust and suspicion -- both of the United States and of companies that must comply with government legal directives." Google said the company was disappointed that the Justice Department opposed "greater transparency" for the government's requests for user information. Microsoft said it was critical to have an informed debate about the right balance between personal privacy and national security. LinkedIn said disclosure of the number of U.S. national security-related requests the company received "is consistent with national security interests, the law and our commitment to transparency."
Read more: http://www.cleveland.com/nation/index.ssf/2013/10/government_argues_that_interne.html#incart_river_default
= new reply since forum marked as read
