z*******n
发帖数: 1034 | 1 October 7, 2014 12:55 PM
Mark Sullivan
Twitter has been complaining to the government for months about restrictions
on the way the microblog can report national security-related data requests
it receives. But the back and forth between Twitter and government wasn’t
progressing to Twitter’s liking. Now the San Francisco-based company has
filed suit.
Twitter says the government is violating its First Amendment right to free
speech by limiting the specificity with which it may report the scope and
scale of the data requests. Twitter reports the government’s requests twice
a year in its Transparency Reports to users.
Tech companies have been under pressure to reassure customers that they aren
’t eager to hand over user data to the government and to be more
transparent in cases where it had to. But the government is placing limits
on their ability to do so, in the name of national security.
“It’s our belief that we are entitled under the First Amendment to respond
to our users’ concerns and to the statements of US government officials by
providing information about the scope of US government surveillance —
including what types of legal process have not been received,” Twitter VP
Ben Lee said in a statement. “We should be free to do this in a meaningful
way, rather than in broad, inexact ranges.”
In Twitter’s case, most tweets are already public, so Twitter would like to
make clear to users that the risk of divulging sensitive information to the
government is already limited. It would also like to report the exact
number of requests it receives, which is markedly lower that email providers
, for example.
The American Civil Liberties Union chimed in on the case, too: “Twitter is
doing the right thing by challenging this tangled web of secrecy rules and
gag orders,” legal director Jameel Jaffer said in a statement Tuesday. “We
hope that other technology companies will now follow Twitter’s lead.
Technology companies have an obligation to protect their customers’
sensitive information against overbroad government surveillance and to be
candid with their customers about how their information is being used and
shared.”
Government officials have said, however, that the FBI and National Security
Agency are seeking to defend the country from real security threats, and the
more that the world knows about their sources and methods, the greater the
risk of losing capabilities.
Officials have also pointed to efforts to be more transparent, including
their release of thousands of pages of redacted court and government
documents pertaining to NSA surveillance programs. In the Jan. 27 agreement
reached with other tech companies, officials say privately, the Justice
Department tried to find a reasonable middle ground that allowed a greater
level of disclosure while shielding the government’s ability to protect
national security.
Twitter’s lawsuit was filed in the Northern District of California on
Tuesday.
Via: Washington Post | z*******n
发帖数: 1034 | 2 美国唯一辞职的总统是窃听政党对手，现在是国家窃听国民，总统还是总统，
国民还是国民，没有什么人格
restrictions
requests
t
twice
【在 z*******n 的大作中提到】
: October 7, 2014 12:55 PM
: Mark Sullivan
: Twitter has been complaining to the government for months about restrictions
: on the way the microblog can report national security-related data requests
: it receives. But the back and forth between Twitter and government wasn’t
: progressing to Twitter’s liking. Now the San Francisco-based company has
: filed suit.
: Twitter says the government is violating its First Amendment right to free
: speech by limiting the specificity with which it may report the scope and
: scale of the data requests. Twitter reports the government’s requests twice
|
|
