Like your privacy? You should be following this

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Justice Department tries to force Google to hand over user data

by Declan McCullagh, May 31, 2013

Secret lawsuit in Manhattan filed last month asks judge to force Google to cough up user data without a search warrant. A different court has already ruled that the process is unconstitutional.
[snipped]

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Judge orders Google to comply with FBI's secret NSL demands
by Declan McCullagh, May 31, 2013

A federal judge tells the company to comply with the FBI's warrantless National Security Letter requests for user details, despite ongoing concerns about their constitutionality.
[snipped]
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Google Defeated By FBI: Judge Reverses Decision On NSLs After Reviewing Secret Affidavits
By Ryan W. Neal, May 31 2013

Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) made headlines in April when it defended user privacy by publicly resisting a national security letter, becoming one of the few major communications companies to do so. But U.S. District Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco recently rejected Google’s request to throw out 19 NSLs after two FBI officials submitted classified affidavits.

As it stands now, Google must comply with the NSLs and surrender confidential user data, but the case isn’t over yet. [snipped]
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Judge Orders Google to Comply With National Security Letters
Despite Google's Assertion That Such Letters (and Gags) Are Illegal
By Karl Bode, May 31, 2013

Google's fight against National Security Letters (NSLs) appears to have hit a small speed bump. We've covered for several years the growing use (or in a significant number of proven cases, the abuse) of NSLs, which allow the government to obtain personal user records from ISPs (or banks and other companies), then invoke a gag order against the company preventing them from ever mention it -- all with no judicial review. 

That process is incredibly open to abuse, given Uncle Sam has been able to obtain any records they want, nobody can talk about it, and nobody has been able to review it. Fortunately for users and companies, a California Judge recently ruled the use of such letters Unconstitutional. Court filings recently also revealed that Google has been quietly waging war against NSLs, though this week that closed-door effort hit a bit of a snag. 

According to Declan McCullagh over at CNET, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco has rejected Google's attempt to have 19 such letters discarded on the grounds that they're illegal. The good news is that Judge Illston didn't shoot down Google entirely, she simply requested that Google be more specific in their complaints:

It wasn't a complete win for the Justice Department, however: Illston all but invited Google to try again, stressing that the company has only raised broad arguments, not ones "specific to the 19 NSLs at issue." She also reserved judgment on two of the 19 NSLs, saying she wanted the government to "provide further information" prior to making a decision.

NSLs are also being challenged on another front via a lawsuit by the EFF on behalf of an anonymous telecom company (which I believe is either Credo Mobile or Sonic.net). Another person who deserves consumer praise for his fight against NSLs is Nicholas Merrill of Calyx Internet Access, who was sued by the DOJ for questioning the practice's legitimacy after he and his ISP were "gagged" by the government for years.
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