Government to Allow Technology Companies to Disclose More Data on Surveillance Requests

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Source: New York Times

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration will allow Internet companies to talk more specifically about when they’re forced to turn over customer data to government agents, the Justice Department said Monday.

The new rules resolve legal fights with Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and Facebook before the nation’s secret surveillance court. But while under the terms of the new arrangement, customers will have a somewhat better idea of how often the government demands information, they still won’t know what’s being collected, or how much.

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Sometimes, FBI agents demand data with administrative subpoenas known as national security letter. Other times, the Justice Department makes the demand under the authority of the surveillance court but without a specific warrant
Either way, the justification is typically secret and companies are prohibited from saying much.

The companies wanted to be able to say how many times they received court orders, known as FISA orders because of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The government opposed that.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/28/business/government-to-allow-technology-companies-to-disclose-more-data-on-surveillance-requests.html?module=Notification&version=BreakingNews&region=FixedTop&action=Click&contentCollection=BreakingNews&contentID=474816&pgtype=article