The Center for Democracy & Technology, on behalf of an unprecedented coalition of Internet companies and advocates for free speech and privacy rights, recently delivered a letter to key officials in the US government demanding greater transparency around national security-related surveillance of Internet and telephone communications.
Major companies like Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Twitter and Yahoo!, along with key organizations behind the StopWatching.Us surveillance reform campaign, such as the American Civil Liberties Union, Electronic Frontier Foundation, and Mozilla, joined in the bipartisan effort with dozens of other companies and organizations, large and small.
And momentum is building in Congress as well. Bills have been introduced in the Senate and House that would allow for surveillance transparency reporting, and the coalition has strongly voiced its support for the legislation in a second joint letter.
Below is the text of the original letter, followed by a list of additional signers that we’ll periodically update as new companies and organizations join our call. We believe the public has a need to know the basic facts about the scope of the US National Security Agency’s surveillance programs, and we thank those that have joined with us in demanding greater transparency, whether through this letter or through our petition to the White House.
‘We Need To Know’ coalition letter
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We the undersigned are writing to urge greater transparency around national security-related requests by the US government to Internet, telephone, and web-based service providers for information about their users and subscribers. First, the US government should ensure that those companies who are entrusted with the privacy and security of their users’ data are allowed to regularly report statistics reflecting:
As an initial step, we request that the Department of Justice, on behalf of the relevant executive branch agencies, agree that Internet, telephone, and web-based service providers may publish specific numbers regarding government requests authorized under specific national security authorities, including the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and the NSL statutes. We further urge Congress to pass legislation requiring comprehensive transparency reporting by the federal government and clearly allowing for transparency reporting by companies without requiring companies to first seek permission from the government or the FISA Court. Basic information about how the government uses its various law enforcement–related investigative authorities has been published for years without any apparent disruption to criminal investigations. We seek permission for the same information to be made available regarding the government’s national security–related authorities. This information about how and how often the government is using these legal authorities is important to the American people, who are entitled to have an informed public debate about the appropriateness of those authorities and their use, and to international users of US-based service providers who are concerned about the privacy and security of their communications. Just as the United States has long been an innovator when it comes to the Internet and products and services that rely upon the Internet, so too should it be an innovator when it comes to creating mechanisms to ensure that government is transparent, accountable, and respectful of civil liberties and human rights. We look forward to working with you to set a standard for transparency reporting that can serve as a positive example for governments across the globe. Original Signers
Additional Signers (last updated September 30, 2013)
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