14 DAY TRIAL // A coalition of companies that include Apple, Google, and many others filed an amicus brief to support Microsoft in the lawsuit against the United States government and fighting against gag orders that prevent firms from telling users that authorities are seeking their data.
Firefox developer Mozilla is one of the companies taking Microsoft’s side, and in a statement today, it explains that the government’s efforts to prevent firms from sharing requests with users come in opposition to transparency, which is defined as “the core pillar for everything we do.”
While Mozilla doesn’t necessarily praise Microsoft for its efforts to fight against the United States government, the two companies have a common goal, as they don’t agree with data requests not being shared with users.
No gag order for Mozilla so far
Mozilla says it hasn’t yet received a request from the US government that forbids it to inform users that their data is being investigated, but it describes these actions as “foolish and unacceptable” because they sacrifice transparency without justification.
“When requesting user data, these gag orders are sometimes issued without the government demonstrating why the gag order is necessary. Worse yet, the government often issues indefinite orders that prevent companies from notifying users even years later, long after everyone would agree the gag order is no longer needed,” Mozilla explains.
“We have yet to receive a gag order that would prevent us from notifying a user about a request for data. Nonetheless, we believe it is wrong for the government to indefinitely delay a company from providing user notice. We said this when we released our transparency report in May, and we said then that we would take steps to enforce this belief. That is just what we’ve done today.”
Microsoft has managed to unite the whole US tech world against the United States government, and there’s no doubt that everyone has the same goal here, as this case could set a dangerous precedent that would ultimately impact all companies and eventually their users.