NNSquad - Network Neutrality Squad
[ NNSquad ] National Security FISA Secrecy: Hiding from the American People
National Security FISA Secrecy: Hiding from the American People
http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/001046.html
The embers have been smoldering for years, but the coals are now
catching fire -- and this time, all the hand-waving and government
pontificating in the world is unlikely to tamp down a potential
inferno.
Ever since 9/11 and the Bush-era enactment of the PATRIOT Act, now
with the complicity of President Obama, the U.S. government appears to
have had two classes of adversaries in its sights.
The first is the terrorists and other truly evil forces whose goal
indeed is to maim and kill innocents. We applaud appropriate measures
to root out such evil and bring it to justice.
The second target, however, appears to have actually been the American
people themselves.
It's difficult to imagine an alternative logical explanation -- even
given government's historical proclivity to stamp information TOP
SECRET first and ask questions -- well, usually never.
The proof is in the disgusting, absolutely insane amount of government
secrecy that has hidden some projects -- as well as even broad data
regarding activities that we already know about -- that involve our
personal information.
We've been talking about the truths and falsehoods told about some of
these projects over the last few days, but the bottom line is that
even when there is no possible national security downside to at least
permitting the American people to know about the existence of
particular programs and/or the broad scope of their activities, the
government has arrogantly tried to keep them secret from all but a
privileged and largely co-opted few.
An obvious example is the use of FISA national security user data
requests (a more appropriate word would be "demands") directed to the
major Web services.
The government has steadfastly sought to avoid public knowledge even
in general terms of the true numbers of such requests -- which the
receiving firms then vet and either approve or challenge.
There is no rational way that transparency in terms at least aggregate
numbers of (for example) FISA requests could possibly do any harm to
actual national security efforts.
Only one explanation seems logical. The government is afraid of us --
you and me. They're terrified (no pun intended) that if we even knew
the most approximate ranges of how many requests they're making, we
would suspect significant abuse of their investigatory powers.
In the absence of even this basic information, conspiracy theories
have flourished, which incorrectly assume that the level of data being
demanded from Web services is utterly unfettered and even higher than
reality -- and the government's intransigence has diverted people's
anger inappropriately to those Web services. A tidy state of affairs
for the spooks and their political protectors.
Google has now taken a major step toward pushing back on this
unacceptable situation.
In a letter sent today to the U.S. Attorney General and FBI Director,
Google's chief legal officer, David Drummond, has formally requested
that the government give Google (and by extension, other firms) the
right to at least include in Transparency Reports aggregate
information regarding the number and scope of national security
(including FISA) requests and disclosures that Google is required to
process. ( http://j.mp/170IBgR [Google Public Policy Blog] )
The letter notes that permission was already granted for some
transparency related to National Security Letters (NSLs), with no ill
effects.
The government's stance regarding FISA activities feeds the false
memes that these Web services have something to hide. They don't, but
the government -- in their desperation to keep us all in the dark --
has made it impossible for these firms to demonstrate their innocence.
This must end. Nobody is suggesting that the details of these data
demands be arbitrarily made public, only that the broad scope and
scale of FISA activity be at least reasonably transparent.
Stop treating Web services -- and the American people -- as your
enemies. Stop behaving as if we're no more to be trusted than the
terrorists and evil that you (and we) wish to neutralize.
You can take a major step yourself toward demonstrating that you trust
and respect the American people, by responding positively to Google's
letter and request.
Prove to us that you're actually on the people's side --
not only your own.
--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein (lauren@vortex.com): http://www.vortex.com/lauren
Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility: http://www.pfir.org/pfir-info
Founder:
- Network Neutrality Squad: http://www.nnsquad.org
- PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com/privacy-info
- Data Wisdom Explorers League: http://www.dwel.org
- Global Coalition for Transparent Internet Performance: http://www.gctip.org
Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
Google+: http://vortex.com/g+lauren / Twitter: http://vortex.com/t-lauren
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 / Skype: vortex.com
_______________________________________________
nnsquad mailing list
http://lists.nnsquad.org/mailman/listinfo/nnsquad