We Need To Know: POGO and Partners Send Letter Asking the US Government to Be More Open About National Security-Related Mass Surveillance

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President Barack Obama

The White House

Attorney General Eric Holder

United States Department of Justice

Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper

Office of the Director of National Intelligence

General Keith Alexander

Director

National Security Agency

The Honorable Harry Reid

Senate Majority Leader

United States Senate

The Honorable Mitch McConnell

Senate Minority Leader

United States Senate

The Honorable John Boehner

Speaker of the House

United States House of Representative

The Honorable Nancy Pelosi

House Minority Leader

United States House of Representatives

The Honorable Patrick J. Leahy

Chairman

Committee on the Judiciary

United States Senate

The Honorable Charles E. Grassley

Ranking Member

Committee on the Judiciary

United States Senate

The Honorable Bob Goodlatte

Chairman

Committee on the Judiciary

The Honorable John Conyers, Jr.

Ranking Member

Committee on the Judiciary

The Honorable Dianne Feinstein

Chairman

Senate Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence

United States Senate

The Honorable Saxby Chambliss

Vice Chairman

Senate Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence

United States Senate

The Honorable Mike Rogers

Chairman

House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence

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.

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

Nonprofit Organizations & Trade Associations

AOL Access Apple Inc. American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression CloudFlare American Civil Liberties Union CREDO Mobile American Library Association Digg American Society of News Editors Dropbox Americans for Tax Reform Evoca Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law School Facebook Center for Democracy & Technology Google Center for Effective Government Heyzap Committee to Protect Journalists LinkedIn Competitive Enterprise Institute Meetup Computer & Communications Industry Association Microsoft The Constitution Project Mozilla Demand Progress Reddit Electronic Frontier Foundation salesforce.com First Amendment Coalition Sonic.net Foundation for Innovation and Internet Freedom Stripe Freedom to Read Foundation Tumblr FreedomWorks Twitter Global Network Initiative Yahoo! GP-Digital YouNow Human Rights Watch Internet Association Liberty Coalition National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers National Coalition Against Censorship New America Foundation's Open Technology Institute OpenTheGovernment.org Project On Government Oversight Public Knowledge Reporters Committee for Freedom of The Press Reporters Without Borders TechFreedom Wikimedia Foundation World Press Freedom Committee

Investors

Boston Common Asset Management Domini Social Investments F&C Asset Management Plc New Atlantic Ventures Union Square Ventures Y Combinator