McLaughlin writes: "Microsoft is suing the Department of Justice for the
right to inform its customers when the government is reading their emails."
A surveillance camera outside of a Microsoft building. (photo: Akos
Stiller/Getty Images)
Microsoft Says US Is Abusing Secret Warrants
By Jenna McLaughlin, The Intercept
16 April 16
We appricate it there are times when secrecy around a government warrant is
needed," Microsoft President Brad Smith wrote in a blog post on Thursday.
"But based on the many secrecy orders we have received, we question whether
these orders are grounded in specific facts that truly demand secrecy. To
the contrary, it appears that the issuance of secrecy orders has become too
routine."
With those words, Smith announced that Microsoft was suing the Department of
Justice for the right to inform its customers when the government is reading
their emails.
The last big fight between the Justice Department and Silicon Valley was
started by law enforcement, when the FBI demanded that Apple unlock a phone
used by San Bernardino killer Syed Rizwan Farook.
This time, Microsoft is going on the offensive. The move is welcomed by
privacy activists as a step forward for transparency - though it's also for
business reasons.
Secret government searches are eroding people's trust in the cloud, Smith
wrote - including large and small businesses now keeping massive amounts of
records online. "The transition to the cloud does not alter people's
expectations of privacy and should not alter the fundamental constitutional
requirement that the government must - with few exceptions - give notice
when it searches and seizes private information or communications," he
wrote.
According to the complaint, Microsoft received 5,624 federal demands for
customer information or data in the past 18 months. Almost half - 2,576 -
came with gag orders, and almost half of those - 1,752 - had "no fixed end
date" by which Microsoft would no longer be sworn to secrecy.
These requests, though signed off on by a judge, qualify as unconstitutional
searches, the attorneys argue. It "violates both the Fourth Amendment, which
affords people and businesses the right to know if the government searches
or seizes their property, and the First Amendment, which enshrines
Microsoft's rights to talk to its customers and to discuss how the
government conducts its investigations - subject only to restraints narrowly
tailored to serve compelling government interests," they wrote.
Microsoft has sued the government three other times in the past to provide
more transparency on secret information requests - winning the right to
disclose the number of legal requests received and pressuring the government
to withdraw a national security letter - an even more shadowy form of
government demand that does not require approval from a judge. Its third
case challenging a warrant for a foreign customer's data is still in court.
Microsoft isn't the only company pushing for more transparency in times when
the government comes knocking. Over 60 companies now release transparency
reports since Google started the trend in 2010. Companies including Google
and Twitter have also gone to court to release more information in their
semi-annual transparency reports. And Uber just published its first
transparency report this week, revealing that it forked over data on 12
million drivers and riders to 33 regulatory agencies, including state and
local law enforcement, in just the second half of 2015.
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A surveillance camera outside of a Microsoft building. (photo: Akos
Stiller/Getty Images)
https://theintercept.com/2016/04/14/microsoft-says-u-s-is-abusing-secret-war
rants/https://theintercept.com/2016/04/14/microsoft-says-u-s-is-abusing-secr
et-warrants/
Microsoft Says US Is Abusing Secret Warrants
By Jenna McLaughlin, The Intercept
16 April 16
e appricate it there are times when secrecy around a government warrant is
needed," Microsoft President Brad Smith wrote in a blog post on Thursday.
"But based on the many secrecy orders we have received, we question whether
these orders are grounded in specific facts that truly demand secrecy. To
the contrary, it appears that the issuance of secrecy orders has become too
routine."
With those words, Smith announced that Microsoft was suing the Department of
Justice for the right to inform its customers when the government is reading
their emails.
The last big fight between the Justice Department and Silicon Valley was
started by law enforcement, when the FBI demanded that Apple unlock a phone
used by San Bernardino killer Syed Rizwan Farook.
This time, Microsoft is going on the offensive. The move is welcomed by
privacy activists as a step forward for transparency - though it's also for
business reasons.
Secret government searches are eroding people's trust in the cloud, Smith
wrote - including large and small businesses now keeping massive amounts of
records online. "The transition to the cloud does not alter people's
expectations of privacy and should not alter the fundamental constitutional
requirement that the government must - with few exceptions - give notice
when it searches and seizes private information or communications," he
wrote.
According to the complaint, Microsoft received 5,624 federal demands for
customer information or data in the past 18 months. Almost half - 2,576 -
came with gag orders, and almost half of those - 1,752 - had "no fixed end
date" by which Microsoft would no longer be sworn to secrecy.
These requests, though signed off on by a judge, qualify as unconstitutional
searches, the attorneys argue. It "violates both the Fourth Amendment, which
affords people and businesses the right to know if the government searches
or seizes their property, and the First Amendment, which enshrines
Microsoft's rights to talk to its customers and to discuss how the
government conducts its investigations - subject only to restraints narrowly
tailored to serve compelling government interests," they wrote.
Microsoft has sued the government three other times in the past to provide
more transparency on secret information requests - winning the right to
disclose the number of legal requests received and pressuring the government
to withdraw a national security letter - an even more shadowy form of
government demand that does not require approval from a judge. Its third
case challenging a warrant for a foreign customer's data is still in court.
Microsoft isn't the only company pushing for more transparency in times when
the government comes knocking. Over 60 companies now release transparency
reports since Google started the trend in 2010. Companies including Google
and Twitter have also gone to court to release more information in their
semi-annual transparency reports. And Uber just published its first
transparency report this week, revealing that it forked over data on 12
million drivers and riders to 33 regulatory agencies, including state and
local law enforcement, in just the second half of 2015.
http://e-max.it/posizionamento-siti-web/socialize
http://e-max.it/posizionamento-siti-web/socialize
