Microsoft and Google to sue over US surveillance requests
Microsoft and Google to sue over US surveillance requests
Technology firms want to be allowed to publish
information about US government requests under the Fisa legislation
Rory Carroll in
Los Angeles
The Guardian,
Friday 30 August 2013
Microsoft and Google are to sue the US government to win
the right to reveal more information about official requests for user data. The
companies announced the lawsuit on Friday, escalating a legal battle over the
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (Fisa), the mechanism used by the
National Security Agency (NSA) and other US government agencies to gather data
about foreign internet users.
Microsoft's general counsel, Brad Smith, made the
announcement in a corporate blog post which complained of the government's
"continued unwillingness" to let it publish information about Fisa
requests.
Each company filed a suit in June arguing that they should
be allowed to state the details under the first amendment, which guarantees
freedom of speech, and in the process defend corporate reputations battered by
Edward Snowden's revelations. Critics accused the companies of collaborating in
the snooping.
"On six occasions in recent weeks we agreed with the
department of justice to extend the government's deadline to reply to these
lawsuits. We hoped that these discussions would lead to an agreement acceptable
to all," Smith wrote.
The negotiations failed, he wrote, so Google and
Microsoft were going to court. He did not specify when, or to which court.
"With the failure of our recent negotiations, we
will move forward with litigation in the hope that the courts will uphold our
right to speak more freely. And with a growing discussion on Capitol Hill, we
hope Congress will continue to press for the right of technology companies to
disclose relevant information in an appropriate way."
Snowden, a former NSA whistleblower, gave documents to
the Guardian and Washington Post revealing NSA claims about access to
technology firms' data via its Prism system.
The companies denied the NSA had "direct
access" to their systems but said they were legally unable to disclose how
many times they have been asked to provide information on users.
Fisa requests are granted by a special court that sits in
secret and can grant the NSA permission to collect data stored by any company
about a named person. In 2012, the court granted 1,856 requests and turned none
down.
"We believe we have a clear right under the US
constitution to share more information with the public," said Smith's
post. "The purpose of our litigation is to uphold this right so that we
can disclose additional data."
He welcomed a government announcement earlier this week
that it would begin publishing the total number of national security requests
for customer data for the past 12 months.
"But the public deserves and the constitution
guarantees more than this first step. For example, we believe it is vital to publish
information that clearly shows the number of national security demands for user
content, such as the text of an email."
Such figures should be published in a form that is
distinct from the number of demands that capture only metadata such as subscriber
information associated with a particular email address, said Smith.
"We believe it's possible to publish these figures
in a manner that avoids putting security at risk. And unless this type of
information is made public, any discussion of government practices and service
provider obligations will remain incomplete."
The post sought to position Microsoft and Google on the
moral high ground, linking them to the values of the founding fathers. "We
benefit from living in a country with a constitution that guarantees the
fundamental freedom to engage in free expression unless silence is required by
a narrowly tailored, compelling government interest . our hope is that the
courts and Congress will ensure that our constitutional safeguards
prevail."
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