U.S. President Barack Obama has loosened the reins of the government on important information by allowing technology and telecommunication companies to disclose details about requests from various government agencies for customer information.
Following the revelations of former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden in June that big technology companies give customer information to the government, the businesses of these firms have been affected as people worry about their privacy.
While the deal still needs the approval of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, the move helps companies such as Google, Facebook, Yahoo, LinkedIn, and Apple appease worries of their customer base with regard to their privacy. At the same time, disclosure will be done in a way that it will not compromise the efforts of the government to protect the American people.
After determining that public interest on such classified information outweighs concerns on national security, the president was pressured and ordered reforms to how the government collects intelligence information.
"As indicated in the Justice Department's filing with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), the administration is acting to allow more detailed disclosures about the number of national security orders and requests issued to communications providers, and the number of customer accounts targeted under those orders and requests including the underlying legal authorities. Through these new reporting methods, communications providers will be permitted to disclose more information than ever before to their customers," Attorney General Eric Holder and James Clapper, director of national intelligence, said in a joint statement issued Monday.
Companies can broadly disclose what government agencies want and how many customers might be affected. For example, if a certain company receives 1,513 national security letters, then they can disclose that they received between 1,000 and 2,000 requests. The same is true for the number of targeted customers. Firms are also allowed to report in real-time requests that come as court orders or requests from the Federal Bureau of Investigation but FISC requests will have to be disclosed six months after they have been received.
"The declassification reflects the Executive Branch's continuing commitment to making information about the Government's intelligence activities publicly available where appropriate and is consistent with ensuring the protection of the national security of the United States," Holder and Clapper added.
Aside from lawsuits challenging tight regulations on disclosing customer data requests, technology companies also launched a concerted effort in December to seek for reforms. Top executives of the technology industry also met with Obama to discuss the effects of government surveillance programs to their businesses.
Meanwhile, technology companies have expressed appreciation for the initiative of the government to be more transparent.
"We filed our lawsuits because we believe that the public has a right to know about the volume and types of national security requests we receive. We're pleased the Department of Justice has agreed that we and other providers can disclose this information. While this is a very positive step, we'll continue to encourage Congress to take additional steps to address all of the reforms we believe are needed," a joint statement from Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, and Facebook read.
On Monday, Apple became the first company to release a report about the number of national security letters it received. It revealed it received between 0 and 249 national security orders that affected 0 to 249 accounts. This covers January to June 2013 and replaced figures in a report released in November 2013.
"This data represents every U.S. national security order for data about our customers regardless of geography. We did not receive any orders for bulk data. The number of accounts involved in national security orders is infinitesimal relative to the hundreds of millions of accounts registered with Apple," the company said in a statement. "Apple reviews each order, whether criminal or under a national security authority, to ensure that it is legally issued and as narrowly tailored as possible. If there is any question about the legitimacy or scope of the order, we challenge it. Only when are satisfied that the order is valid and appropriate do we deliver the narrowest possible set of information in response to that order."
