Court sides with Yahoo in data collection case

Published: July 16, 2013 Updated 5 hours ago

Yahoo-Government Surveillance

FILE - This Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2012 file photo, shows a sign in front of Yahoo! headquarters in Sunnyvale, Calif. The U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which reviews government requests to spy on individuals, ruled Monday, July 15, 2013 that information should be made public about a 2008 case that ordered Yahoo Inc. to turn over customer data.

MARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ, FILE — AP Photo

— Yahoo has won a court fight that could help the public learn more about the government's efforts to obtain data from Internet users.

The U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which reviews government requests to spy on individuals, ruled Monday that information should be made public about a 2008 case that ordered Yahoo Inc. to turn over customer data.

The order requires the government to review which portions of the opinion, briefs and arguments can be declassified and report back to the court by July 29.

The government sought the information from Yahoo under the National Security Agency's PRISM data-gathering program. Details of the secret program were disclosed by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, who has fled the U.S.

The program came to light in early June after The Washington Post and Guardian newspapers published documents provided by Snowden. It allows the NSA to reach into the data streams of U.S. companies such as Yahoo, Facebook Inc., Microsoft Corp., Google Inc. and others, and grab emails, video chats, pictures and more. U.S. officials have said the program is narrowly focused on foreign targets, and technology companies say they turn over information only if required by court order.

Yahoo requested in court papers filed June 14 to have the information about the 2008 case unsealed. A Yahoo spokeswoman hailed Monday's decision and said the company believes it will help inform public discussion about the U.S. government's surveillance programs.

The government hasn't taken a position on whether details of the case should be published as long as it's allowed to review the documents before publication in order to redact classified information, according to the court order.

Mark Rumold, a staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation specializing in electronic surveillance and national security issues, called the ruling incremental and said he was reserving judgment until the case details are actually released.

"It remains to be seen how forthcoming (the government) will be," Rumold said. "The administration has said they want a debate about the propriety of the surveillance, but they haven't really provided information to inform that debate. So declassifying these opinions is a very important place to start."

The unsealing of such secret rulings is not unprecedented, but it is rare. The last time that happened, Rumold said, was in 2002, in a case regarding the Patriot Act.

Tami Abdollah can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/latams .


Read more here: http://www.theolympian.com/2013/07/16/2623499/court-sides-with-yaho...


Read more here: http://www.theolympian.com/2013/07/16/2623499/court-sides-with-yaho...

— Yahoo has won a court fight that could help the public learn more about the government's efforts to obtain data from Internet users.

The U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which reviews government requests to spy on individuals, ruled Monday that information should be made public about a 2008 case that ordered Yahoo Inc. to turn over customer data.

The order requires the government to review which portions of the opinion, briefs and arguments can be declassified and report back to the court by July 29.

The government sought the information from Yahoo under the National Security Agency's PRISM data-gathering program. Details of the secret program were disclosed by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, who has fled the U.S.

The program came to light in early June after The Washington Post and Guardian newspapers published documents provided by Snowden. It allows the NSA to reach into the data streams of U.S. companies such as Yahoo, Facebook Inc., Microsoft Corp., Google Inc. and others, and grab emails, video chats, pictures and more. U.S. officials have said the program is narrowly focused on foreign targets, and technology companies say they turn over information only if required by court order.

Yahoo requested in court papers filed June 14 to have the information about the 2008 case unsealed. A Yahoo spokeswoman hailed Monday's decision and said the company believes it will help inform public discussion about the U.S. government's surveillance programs.

The government hasn't taken a position on whether details of the case should be published as long as it's allowed to review the documents before publication in order to redact classified information, according to the court order.

Mark Rumold, a staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation specializing in electronic surveillance and national security issues, called the ruling incremental and said he was reserving judgment until the case details are actually released.

"It remains to be seen how forthcoming (the government) will be," Rumold said. "The administration has said they want a debate about the propriety of the surveillance, but they haven't really provided information to inform that debate. So declassifying these opinions is a very important place to start."

The unsealing of such secret rulings is not unprecedented, but it is rare. The last time that happened, Rumold said, was in 2002, in a case regarding the Patriot Act.

Tami Abdollah can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/latams .

www.theolympian.com/MAI/553739608821365901/CVI/1373986032/E/prod/PC/Basic/AT/A" alt="" id="newsRegistryBeacon" height="1" width="1" />

Read more here: http://www.theolympian.com/2013/07/16/2623499/court-sides-with-yaho...

Views: 50

Comment

You need to be a member of 12160 Social Network to add comments!

Join 12160 Social Network

"Destroying the New World Order"

TOP CONTENT THIS WEEK

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE SITE!

mobile page

12160.info/m

12160 Administrators

 

Latest Activity

Doc Vega posted a blog post

The Draconian Show

Sometimes I talk to my invisible friend, IkeHe comes from another dimension when magnetic fields…See More
10 hours ago
tjdavis posted a blog post
yesterday
Doc Vega posted a blog post
Wednesday
Doc Vega posted blog posts
Tuesday
Doc Vega posted blog posts
Monday
Doc Vega favorited tjdavis's photo
Sunday
Doc Vega commented on tjdavis's photo
Thumbnail

Game Night

"Ha! Good one!"
Sunday
Doc Vega commented on FREEDOMROX's blog post MRNA VACCINES: Question
"Listen man I know where you're at but back in October of 2023 thru December of 2023 for months…"
Sunday
tjdavis posted a video

Architecton | Official Trailer HD | A24

SUBSCRIBE: http://bit.ly/A24subscribeWritten and directed by Victor Kossakovsky and starring Michele De Lucchi. ARCHITECTON – Coming Soon RELEASE DATE: Comin...
Sunday
tjdavis posted photos
Sunday
tjdavis posted a blog post
Jun 21
Burbia posted a video

Europe Will Not Survive

The hubris.All things Archaix at www.archaix.com
Jun 21
FREEDOMROX posted a video
Jun 21
Burbia commented on tjdavis's blog post Track AIPAC
Jun 20
rlionhearted_3 commented on Doc Vega's blog post Latest Details on Missile Exchanges Between Iran and Israel
"May get really ugly over there?"
Jun 20
Doc Vega posted a blog post

Latest Details on Missile Exchanges Between Iran and Israel

Latest information about the air attacks between Israel and Iran as the US moves another carrier…See More
Jun 19
tjdavis favorited Less Prone's video
Jun 19
tjdavis posted a blog post
Jun 19
cheeki kea replied to cheeki kea's discussion Tartaria
"Some interesting information has come to light ( from the renaissance period ) which explains that…"
Jun 19
Sandy posted a video
Jun 19

© 2025   Created by truth.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

content and site copyright 12160.info 2007-2019 - all rights reserved. unless otherwise noted