Court Sides With FBI, Compels Tech Firms To Hand Over Customer Data

An appeals court affirmed the FBI’s use of gag provisions when issuing national security letters, arguing nondisclosure requirements do not violate the First Amendment.

Kevin Gosztola
By Kevin Gosztola
This photo shows a portion of a National Security Letter written in November 2007. (Photo from the Federal Bureau of Investigation via Wikimedia Commons)

Published in partnership with Shadowproof. A federal appeals court affirmed the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s use of gag provisions when issuing national security letters or NSLs and argued nondisclosure requirements do not violate the First Amendment. Between 2011 and 2013, CREDO Mobile received three NSLs, and CloudFlare received two

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ACLU Demands Secret Court Hand Over Crucial Rulings On Surveillance Law

“The people of this country can’t hold the government accountable for its surveillance activities unless they know what our laws allow”

Nadia Prupis
By Nadia Prupis
Surveillance

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed a motion to reveal the secret court opinions with "novel or significant interpretations" of surveillance law, in a renewed push for government transparency. The motion, filed Wednesday by the ACLU and Yale Law School's Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic, asks the Foreign Intelligence

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Life In the Electronic Concentration Camp: The Surveillance State Is Alive And Well

“Big Brother in the form of an increasingly powerful government and in an increasingly powerful private sector will pile the records high with reasons why privacy should give way to national security, to law and order […] and the like.” ― William O. Douglas, Supreme Court Justice

John Whitehead
By John Whitehead
GoogleWeb

Bottle up the champagne, pack away the noisemakers, and toss out the party hats. There is no cause for celebration. We have secured no major victories against tyranny. We have achieved no great feat in pushing back against government overreach. For all intents and purposes, the National Security Agency has supposedly ceased its bulk

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Free Speech, Facebook and the NSA: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Suddenly the NSA’s telephone metadata program seems like child’s play compared to what’s coming down the pike.

John Whitehead
By John Whitehead
NSA, Free speech, Facebook

“A person under surveillance is no longer free; a society under surveillance is no longer a democracy.”—Writers Against Mass Surveillance THE GOOD NEWS: Americans have a right to freely express themselves on the Internet, including making threatening—even violent—statements on Facebook, provided that they don’t intend to actually inflict

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Unsatisfied With Weak Spy Reforms, Movement Snowden Built Vows To Fight On

‘Two years ago, debating these modest changes would’ve been unthinkable, and it is absolutely a vindication for Edward Snowden.’

Jon Queally
By Jon Queally
The USA Freedom Act vote "shows the power that investigative journalism and brave whistleblowing can have on even the most entrenched government interests," says Trevor Timm. (Photo: The Guardian)

The USA Freedom Act vote "shows the power that investigative journalism and brave whistleblowing can have on even the most entrenched government interests," says Trevor Timm. (Photo: The Guardian)   The law itself isn't nearly strong enough for NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden and his strongest supporters to get behind,

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NSA May Be Forced To Halt Bulk Phone Record Collection

Because of Snowden, “people have some more insight into exactly how they are being spied upon and how the law has been twisted to authorize mass surveillance of people who have no connection to a crime or terrorism.”

Associated Press
By Associated Press

Homeland Security logo reflected in the eyeglasses of a cybersecurity analyst at the agency’s secretive cyber defense facility in Idaho.  (AP/Mark J. Terrill) WASHINGTON — However Congress resolves its impasse over government surveillance, this much is clear: The National Security Agency will ultimately be out of the business of collecting

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