Google gets snarky with the DOJ
by digby
I see that the latest Google report on government requests is now public. As Tech dirt points out, requests have doubled in the last three years, but also draws our attention to the somewhat sarcastic point Google makes about the FISA requests:
Google's lawyer writes:
"We want to go even further. We believe it’s your right to know what kinds of requests and how many each government is making of us and other companies. However, the U.S. Department of Justice contends that U.S. law does not allow us to share information about some national security requests that we might receive. Specifically, the U.S. government argues that we cannot share information about the requests we receive (if any) under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. But you deserve to know.
Earlier this year, we brought a federal case to assert that we do indeed have the right to shine more light on the FISA process. In addition, we recently wrote a letter of support (PDF) for two pieces of legislation currently proposed in the U.S. Congress. And we’re asking governments around the world to uphold international legal agreements that respect the laws of different countries and guarantee standards for due process are met."
Google has to fight in court for the right to free speech about their own business. Can you believe it?
Mother Jones has more on this with a story about how all the tech companies re starting to lobby congress to rein in the NSA. This is a good development. But it's a sad comment on our country that it takes giant corporations being criticized by their customers for them --- or anyone --- to care about fundamental principles of civil liberties.
Representatives of the most important tech companies have, however, made public statements indicating that they're likely to support bills that allow them to shed more light on government surveillance. "I was shocked that the NSA would do this—perhaps a violation of law but certainly a violation of mission," Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt told CNN last week, in response to an October 30 Washington Post report that the NSA was tapping into Google's servers without the company's consent. "From a Google perspective, any internal use of Google services is unauthorized and almost certainly illegal." Niki Fenwick, a spokesperson for Google, said that the company doesn't comment on whether it supports specific bills, but Bloomberg News reported last week that the company, which has bulked up its lobbying presence on Capitol Hill, "seeks to end National Security Agency intrusions into its data."
"Defending and respecting the user's voice [is] a natural commitment for us and is why we are so committed to freedom of expression," Colin Crowell, Twitter's vice president for global public policy, tells Mother Jones.
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