Google wants gag orders to be lifted so it can talk about FISA requests

Jun 18, 2013 23:08 GMT  ·  By

Google is publicly fighting for the right to disclose the number of secret court orders for user data it receives in the US.

Ever since Edward Snowden leaked documents indicating that Google and others were handing over huge amounts of information with no oversight, to the NSA and US intelligence agencies, the company has been on the defensive.

Google and the others involved asked the government for more transparency, but all it got was the right to disclose the total number of requests it gets from US officials, which would include these secret ones.

Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, and everyone else involved used the opportunity to disclose these broad numbers.

But Google argued that, since it already discloses the exact number of non-secret requests and even an approximate number for secret National Security Letters, lumping that data together would be a step backwards.

Now, it's making its objections known by filing a petition with the secretive FISA Court to remove the gag orders that prevent Google from disclosing exactly how many requests it gets. The company is citing the US Constitution's First Amendment, which guarantees free speech, in its petition.

"Today we have petitioned the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to allow us to publish aggregate numbers of national security requests, including FISA disclosures, separately. Lumping national security requests together with criminal requests—as some companies have been permitted to do—would be a backward step for our users," Google explained.

Of course, just the number of requests and the number of users affected isn't enough to shed light on the US government's spying efforts.

But it's a step in the right direction and it would be a big win for Google, both because it would enable it to prove that it doesn't hand over massive amounts of data, and because it would portray it as a defender of user rights.