Favorite A ruling from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this week marks a new low in judicial deference to classification and national security, even against the nearly inviolable First Amendment right to be free of prior restraints against speech. In Twitter v. Garland, the court ruled that it was not a violation of…
All posts tagged National Security Letters
EFF and ACLU Ask Ninth Circuit to Overturn Government’s Censorship of Twitter’s Transparency Report
Favorite Citing national security concerns, the government is attempting to infringe on Twitter’s First Amendment right to inform the public about secret government surveillance orders. For more than six years, Twitter has been fighting in court to share information about law enforcement orders it received in 2014. Now, Twitter has brought that fight to the…
Judge Dismisses Twitter’s Lawsuit Over Its Rights to Publish Information About Government Surveillance Orders
Favorite A federal judge dismissed Twitter’s long-pending lawsuit last week over its right to share information about secret government surveillance orders for its users’ information. We hope that Twitter will continue its fight for transparency by appealing this decision. Background: The Government’s Limits on National Security Transparency Using surveillance authorities such as national security letters…
Twilio Demonstrates Why Courts Should Review Every National Security Letter
Favorite The list of companies who exercise their right to ask for judicial review when handed national security letter gag orders from the FBI is growing. Last week, the communications platform Twilio posted two NSLs after the FBI backed down from its gag orders. As Twilio’s accompanying blog post documents, the FBI simply couldn’t or…
Requiring Judicial Review for Every Gag Order Is a Simple Way to Have Our Backs: Apple Does but Google and Facebook Fall Short
Favorite As a civil liberties organization, it’s our job to evaluate how tech companies handle our most private data and to encourage them to do better year over year. Our Who Has Your Back report is designed to do both, which is one reason we revisit the report’s criteria every year—always striving to raise the…
Librarians, Act Now to Protect Your Users (Before It’s Too Late)
Favorite Books checked out from a library and terms searched on library computers can reveal a teenager’s questions about sexual orientation, a neighbor’s religious leanings, or a student’s political interests. Libraries across the country, particularly public libraries, make it part of their mission to serve the most vulnerable and underserved user groups, including users who…
Debunking the Patriot Act as It Turns 15
Favorite The Patriot Act turns 15 today, but that’s nothing to celebrate. Since President George W. Bush signed this bill into law on October 26, 2001, the Patriot Act has been ardently defended by its supporters in the intelligence community and harshly criticized by members of Congress, the tech industry, and privacy advocates like us.…
Canary Watch – One Year Later
Favorite We announced Canary Watch a year ago as a coalition project to list Warrant Canaries and monitor them for changes or removal. Canary Watch was a joint project, with EFF, Freedom of the Press Foundation, NYU Law, Calyx and the Berkman Center. Along the way, the project has been part of the massive popularization…
FBI Flouts Obama Directive to Limit Gag Orders on National Security Letters
Favorite Despite the post-Snowden spotlight on mass surveillance, the intelligence community’s easiest end-run around the Fourth Amendment since 2001 has been something called a National Security Letter. FBI agents can demand that an Internet service provider, telephone company, or financial institution turn over its records on any number of people — without any judicial review…