Google Says It Has A First Amendment Right To Release NSA Data Request NumbersBy: Zach Walton | Staff Writer For the past two weeks, Google has been petitioning the government to allow it to publish the exact number of data requests it receives from the NSA. There's not been a lot of progress made on that front, but now Google is pulling out the big guns in attempt to force transparency. In a recent filing, obtained by The Washington Post, before the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, Google argues the gag order that prevents it from publishing the number of data requests it receives is unconstitutional. In particular, Google says that such gag orders violate its First Amendment rights: "Google seeks a declaratory judgment that Google has a right under the First Amendment to publish, and that no applicable law or regulation prohibits Google from publishing, two aggregate unclassified numbers: (1) the total number of FISA requests it receives, if any; and (2) the total number of users or accounts encompassed within such requests." |
Now, why is this so difficult? What's wrong with publishing nothing but
numbers? Well, it may seem kind of silly to you, but the government argues that
even publishing the exact number of data requests it sends would put the nation
in danger. Google isn't asking to publish any specific requests nor it it asking
to reveal inner workings of its relationship with the NSA. Google is only asking
to publish some numbers, and that has thus far proven to be incredibly
difficult.
In the last week, we've seen the government slightly budge on the issue.
Facebook,
Apple and
Yahoo all published statements that listed a ballpark figure of data
requests it receives from local, state and federal governments. Google was
presumably allowed to publish the same figure, but it refrained because "lumping
national security requests together with criminal requests ... would be a
backward step for our users."
Google took that stance because it already
publishes the amount of national security letters it receives from the
government. Well, it can publish ballpark figures that say it received between 0
and 999 requests for user data in 2012. It's not exactly helpful and lumping
those figures in with criminal requests would make the numbers even more opaque.
The core argument here is that publishing these wide ranging numbers doesn't do
the public or Google any good. Sure, Google could say it receives anywhere
between 9,000 to 12,000 data requests per year, but we wouldn't know if those
requests were from local law enforcement or the NSA. In turn, that unknown
factor would only serve to increase consumer distrust for Google and drive them
away to competitors.
"Google's publication would disclose numbers as part of the regular Transparency Report publication cycle for National Security Letters, which covers data over calendar year time periods. There would be two new categories to cover requests made under FISA: (a) total requests received and (b) total users/accounts at issue. Each of these entries will be reported at a range, rather than an actual number. That range would be the same as used by Google in its reporting of NSLs currently, in increments of one thousand, starting with zero. As with the NSL reporting, Google would have a Frequently Asked Questions section that would describe the statutory FISA authorities themselves."That doesn't sound bad at all. The government already lets Google publish a ballpark figure for national security letters, so why not this? What's the problem with making the federal government more transparent? Doing so would benefit not only the Obama administration's declining reputation, but it would also immensely help Silicon Valley as well.
Zach Walton is a Writer for WebProNews. He specializes in gaming and technology. Follow him on Twitter, on StumbleUpon, on Pinterest and/or on Google: +Zach Walton. View all posts by Zach Walton |