The Web company was the unidentified petitioner challenging an order to help the U.S. government spy on foreign users, sources tell The New York Times. June 13, 2013 10:39 PM PDT Yahoo reportedly challenged a U.S. government order to help it spy on foreign users before ultimately failing and becoming part of the PRISM, the National Security Agency's controversial surveillance program. The details of the dispute were never made public beyond a heavily redacted court order (PDF). But sources told The New York Times that Yahoo is the unnamed company that petitioned the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court in 2008 for review of the order over concerns it violated its users' the Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable searches and seizures. The court responded that the company's concerns were "overblown" and that "incidentally collected communications of non-targeted United States persons do not violate the Fourth Amendment." The court concluded that the company "presented no evidence of actual harm, any egregious risk of error, or any broad potential for abuse," adding that "where the government has instituted several layers of serviceable safeguards to protect individuals against unwarranted harms and to minimize incidental intrusions, its efforts to protect national security should not be frustrated by the courts." Related stories NSA whistleblower: U.S has been hacking into China, Hong Kong NSA leaker's purported online activity, interests come to light Facebook CEO repeats PRISM denial: We push back to protect the privacy of users According to recent reports in The Washington Post and The Guardian, the program grants "intelligence services direct access to the companies' servers" and that "from inside a company's data stream the NSA is capable of pulling out anything it likes." Yahoo denied the allegations last week regarding its participation in the program, calling them "categorically false." "Yahoo! has not joined any program in which we volunteer to share user data with the U.S. government," Yahoo general counsel Ron Bell wrote in a Tumblr post Saturday. "We do not voluntarily disclose user information. The only disclosures that occur are in response to specific demands." CNET has contacted Yahoo for comment about the court order and will update this report when we learn more.
The Web company was the unidentified petitioner challenging an order to help the U.S. government spy on foreign users, sources tell The New York Times.
Yahoo reportedly challenged a U.S. government order to help it spy on foreign users before ultimately failing and becoming part of the PRISM, the National Security Agency's controversial surveillance program.
The details of the dispute were never made public beyond a heavily redacted court order (PDF). But sources told The New York Times that Yahoo is the unnamed company that petitioned the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court in 2008 for review of the order over concerns it violated its users' the Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable searches and seizures.
The court responded that the company's concerns were "overblown" and that "incidentally collected communications of non-targeted United States persons do not violate the Fourth Amendment."
The court concluded that the company "presented no evidence of actual harm, any egregious risk of error, or any broad potential for abuse," adding that "where the government has instituted several layers of serviceable safeguards to protect individuals against unwarranted harms and to minimize incidental intrusions, its efforts to protect national security should not be frustrated by the courts."
Related stories
- NSA whistleblower: U.S has been hacking into China, Hong Kong
- NSA leaker's purported online activity, interests come to light
- Facebook CEO repeats PRISM denial: We push back to protect the privacy of users
According to recent reports in The Washington Post and The Guardian, the program grants "intelligence services direct access to the companies' servers" and that "from inside a company's data stream the NSA is capable of pulling out anything it likes."
Yahoo denied the allegations last week regarding its participation in the program, calling them "categorically false."
"Yahoo! has not joined any program in which we volunteer to share user data with the U.S. government," Yahoo general counsel Ron Bell wrote in a Tumblr post Saturday. "We do not voluntarily disclose user information. The only disclosures that occur are in response to specific demands."
CNET has contacted Yahoo for comment about the court order and will update this report when we learn more.
