President Barack Obama The White House Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Office of the Director of National Intelligence The Honorable Harry Reid Senate Majority Leader United States Senate The Honorable John Boehner Speaker of the House United States House of Representatives The Honorable Patrick J. Leahy Chairman Committee on the Judiciary United States Senate The Honorable Bob Goodlatte Chairman Committee on the Judiciary The Honorable Dianne Feinstein Chairman Senate Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence United States Senate The Honorable Mike Rogers Chairman House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
Attorney General Eric Holder United States Department of Justice General Keith Alexander Director National Security Agency The Honorable Mitch McConnell Senate Minority Leader United States Senate The Honorable Nancy Pelosi House Minority Leader United States House of Representatives The Honorable Charles E. Grassley Ranking Member Committee on the Judiciary United States Senate The Honorable John Conyers, Jr. Ranking Member Committee on the Judiciary The Honorable Saxby Chambliss Vice Chairman Senate Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence United States Senate The Honorable Dutch Ruppersberger Ranking Member House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence July 18, 2013
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: • The number of government requests for information about their users made under specific legal authorities such as Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act, Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act, the various National Security Letter (NSL) statutes, and others; The number of individuals, accounts, or devices for which information was requested under each authority; and The number of requests under each authority that sought communications content, basic subscriber information, and/or other information.
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Second, the government should also augment the annual reporting that is already required by statute by issuing its own regular “transparency report” providing the same information: the total number of requests under specific authorities for specific types of data, and the number of individuals affected by each.
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. Thank you. Companies AOL Apple Inc. CloudFlare CREDO Mobile Digg Dropbox Evoca Facebook Google Heyzap LinkedIn Meetup Microsoft Mozilla Reddit salesforce.com Sonic.net Stripe Tumblr Twitter Yahoo! YouNow Nonprofit Organizations & Trade Associations Access American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression American Civil Liberties Union American Library Association American Society of News Editors Americans for Tax Reform Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law School Center for Democracy & Technology Center for Effective Government Committee to Protect Journalists Competitive Enterprise Institute Computer & Communications Industry Association The Constitution Project Demand Progress Electronic Frontier Foundation First Amendment Coalition Foundation for Innovation and Internet Freedom Freedom to Read Foundation FreedomWorks Global Network Initiative GP-?Digital Human Rights Watch Internet Association Liberty Coalition
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