Gov't, Internet companies reach deal on disclosure
Jan 27, 6:48 PM EST
Gov' t,
Internet companies reach deal on disclosure
By JESSE J. HOLLAND Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The government and leading Internet
companies on Monday announced a compromise that will allow those companies to
reveal more information about how often they are ordered to turn over customer
information to the government in national security investigations.
The Justice Department reached agreements with Google
Inc., Microsoft Corp., Yahoo Inc., Facebook Inc. and LinkedIn Corp. that would
resolve those companies' legal
challenges before the Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Court . The companies had
asked judges to allow them to disclose data on national security orders the
companies have received under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
The delivery of customer information to the government
from Internet companies has been under examination in the United States
following leaks about National Security Agency surveillance by former NSA
systems analyst Edward Snowden.
Some of those companies were among several U.S. Internet
businesses identified as giving the NSA access to customer data under the
program known as PRISM. But the companies had said they wanted to make the
disclosures in order to correct inaccuracies in news reports and to calm public
speculation about the scope of the companies'
cooperation with the government. The providers wanted to show that only a tiny
fraction of their customers'
accounts have been subject to legal orders.
The government had opposed those requests, but reached a
deal with the companies late last week that would give customers a better idea
of how much information is being collected.
"Permitting disclosure of this aggregate data
addresses an important area of concern to communications providers and the
public," Attorney General Eric Holder and Director of National
Intelligence James Clapper said in a joint statement.
The five companies welcomed the deal, but said more needs
to be done. "We filed our lawsuits because we believe that the public has
a right to know about the volume and types of national security requests we
receive," the companies said in a joint statement. "While this is a
very positive step, we' ll continue
to encourage Congress to take additional steps to address all of the reforms we
believe are needed."
Apple also released a statement. "We believe
strongly that our customers have the right to understand how their personal
information is being handled, and we are pleased the government has developed
new rules that allow us to more accurately report law enforcement orders and
national security orders in the U.S.," the company said on its website.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., called it a "positive first
step." "Though there is still a great deal of work to do, today' s announcement is good for American companies and
the Americans they employ and serve," he said.
Following the Snowden leaks, the FBI allowed
communications providers to report in a limited way the number of orders for
data they received from the government and the number of accounts affected by
such orders. However, the FBI only agreed to disclosure of a single, aggregate
number of criminal and national security-related orders to the companies from
all U.S.
governmental entities, plus local and state entities.
Under the compromise announced Monday, Internet companies
will be able to release more information, but still only in very general terms
when it comes to national security investigations. They can report the number
of criminal-related orders from the government. They also will be able to
release, rounded to the nearest thousand, the number of secret national
security-related orders from government investigators; the number of national
security-related orders from the FISA court, and the number of customers affected
by both. In the FISA orders, the companies will be able to say the number of
requests for personal information about their customers versus their actual
e-mails.
The companies can also choose a simplified reporting
process that allows them to report the number of criminal-related orders, and
then national security or intelligence orders in increments of 250 and the
total number of customers targeted, also in groups of 250.
"These new reporting methods enable communications
providers to make public more information than ever before about the orders
that they have received to provide data to the government," Deputy
Attorney General James M. Cole said in a letter to the five Internet companies.
The companies will have to delay releasing the number of
national security orders by six months. They also had to promise that if they
come up with new technology or new forms of communication, they are not able to
reveal that the government can tap into that new technology for two years.
The American Civil Liberties Union, which filed a brief
supporting the tech firms in their bid to disclose more information, said
Monday that the deal "partially" lifted an information gag on the
companies. But the group praised the agreement as "a victory for
transparency."
Alex Abdo, a lawyer with the ACLU' s
National Security Project, said: "It is commendable that the companies
pressed the government for more openness, but even more is needed. Congress
should require the government to publish basic information about the full
extent of its surveillance."
---
Associated Press writer Stephen Braun in Washington , AP National Writer Martha Mendoza in San Jose , Calif. , and AP
Technology Writer Barbara Ortutay in New
York contributed to this report.
© 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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