This photo shows a portion of a National Security Letter written in November 2007. (Photo: FBI via Wikimedia Commons)
Published in partnership with Shadowproof.
A federal appeals court affirmed the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s use of gag provisions when issuing national security letters or NSLs and argued nondisclosure requirements do not violate the First Amendment.
NSLs are a used by the government to force telecom companies to give upcustomer information without the use of a warrant from a judge.
(ANTIMEDIA) San Francisco, CA — The question is at the heart of an ongoing court battle between the Federal Bureau of Investigations and two communications service providers represented by the Electronic Frontier Foundation. EFF is representing CREDO Mobile and Cloudflare in their efforts to defend themselves against the use of the controversial national security letters (NSL). Both companies were legally bound to secrecy for years under the provisions of the NSL, itself a creation of the 2001 PATRIOT Act.
