Google Just Revealed 8 Secret National Security Letters From The FBI, First Time Ever

Short Bytes: To improve transparency to the users, Google has revealed eight National Security Letters issued between 2010 and 2015 after the FBI lifted gag restrictions on these letters. The NSLs were used to obtain user information from Google.

Google has shared eight notices or National Security Letters it received from the FBI. NSLs are issued by the government to obtain information from the companies; they don’t require prior approval from a judge. NSLs are often accompanied by gag orders which prevent companies from disclosing the letters.

The arrival of the USA Freedom Act in 2015 cleared the way for Google to reveal NSLs that are no longer needed and lifted by the Department of Justice which now has to review disclosure restrictions regularly. However, the Act prevents companies from telling the concerned customers before the restriction has been lifted off from an NSL.

In a blog post, Google has mentioned that FBI removed non-disclosure restrictions on eight National Security Letters sent between 2010 and 2015. For privacy reasons, names and personal details of the concerned people have been redacted before publishing.

You can visit this link to see the National Security Letters and the FBI notices.

Google regular maintains its Transparency Report to tell people about the data removal requests, user information requests, etc.

If you have something to add, tell us in the comments below.

Also Read: Android Things: Google Announces New Android-based OS For IoT Devices