Technology
It has been public knowledge for some time -- even more widely-known after the Snowden leaks in 2013 -- that the U.S. federal government uses national security letters to demand user data from companies. But over the past couple of years, more details about how exactly the government extracts this data have come to light. Most recently, ZDNet reported that a specific court filing pulls back the curtain on how the Federal Bureau of Investigation goes about demanding access to user data.
A statement released Monday from Nicholas Merrill, founder of internet provider Calyx Internet Access, revealed that the F.B.I. has used its authority to force companies and individuals to turn over complete web browsing history; the IP addresses of everyone a person has corresponded with; online purchase information; and cell-site location information, according to ZDNet. All of these items can be obtained without warrants. The news outlet quotes Merrill:
"The FBI has interpreted its NSL authority to encompass the websites we read, the web searches we conduct, the people we contact, and the places we go. This kind of data reveals the most intimate details of our lives, including our political activities, religious affiliations, private relationships, and even our private thoughts and beliefs."
The decision document from Yale details how in February 2004, an F.B.I. agent served Merrill with an NSL which was accompanied by an attachment listing the types of records the F.B.I. sought from Calyx. Under the Patriot Act, the F.B.I. can issue NSLs — “a type of administrative subpoena requesting ‘subscriber information and toll billing records information, or electronic communication transactional records’ from a wire or electronic service provider.”
Merrill won the case earlier this year becoming the first person to lift a national security gag order. And Federal district judge Victor Marrero found that the F.B.I.’s gag order on Merrill — preventing him from speaking freely about the letter he received — "implicates serious issues, both with respect to the First Amendment and accountability of the government to the people."
Reports note that around 10,000 of these national security letters are issued every year, and bigger names than Calyx have tried to block the F.B.I.’s demands to no avail.
