Google Begins Publicly Sharing National Security Letters

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Google Begins Publicly Sharing National Security Letters

By CircleID Reporter
December 15, 2016, 7:41 pm PST Views: 9,020 Add Comment

In a note released this week, Google announced that it will begin publicly sharing National Security Letters (NSLs) it receives that have been freed of nondisclosure obligations either through litigation or legislation. As per the decision, Google has published eight letters received from the FBI. Google’s Director of law Enforcement and Information Security, Richard Salgado, said: “In 2015, Congress passed the USA Freedom Act, which allowed companies like Google to make more granular disclosures about National Security Letters they receive. ... the Act restricts the use of indefinite gag restrictions that prevent providers from ever notifying customers or talking about the demands. The Department of Justice (DOJ) must now regularly review disclosure restrictions in NSLs and lift those that are no longer needed. The United States Attorney General approved procedures to do this, and as we mentioned recently, the FBI has started lifting gag restrictions on particular NSLs. We are now making copies of those NSLs available.”

By CircleID Reporter

CircleID’s internal staff reporting on news tips and developing stories. Do you have information the professional Internet community should be aware of? Contact us.

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