Microsoft and Google to Sue the U.S.

Microsoft has announced that it will initiate legal proceedings against the U.S. government in conjunction with Google after negotiations between the two parties regarding the disclosure of data on requests from U.S. intelligence agencies for access to internet users’ data failed, and the insistence of both companies to publish the number of court orders requested by authorities under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to gain access to internet users’ data, reports AFP.

Specifically, Microsoft and Google sued the government in federal court in June, seeking the right to disclose information about government requests under the aforementioned law that allows for the surveillance of users of foreign internet networks.

The two companies have decided on six occasions to extend the time for the government to respond to their legal action, but ‘negotiations have ended unsuccessfully,’ stated Microsoft’s Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith on his blog.

Google and Microsoft are seeking the right to publish ‘aggregate information’ about court orders under FISA to be more transparent with their users, according to a joint statement reported by agencies. Microsoft and Google often keep their distance from each other… but now we stand together. We believe that under the U.S. Constitution we have the right to share information with the broader public, said Smith.

The internet giants from Silicon Valley believe they have the right to inform their users about what information the government is seeking and invoke the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

The head of 16 U.S. intelligence agencies, James Clapper, committed on Thursday to publish a general report on activities related to communication surveillance every year, but Brad Smith considers this initiative insufficient and demands more detailed information, such as the number of orders for access to users’ emails and the context and motivation of the orders.

Smith believes that disclosing information about government orders will not jeopardize national security, and as negotiations have failed, he stated, we are going to court.

Before Edward Snowden revealed the extent of spying by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) to the world, FISA orders were classified to such an extent that Microsoft, Google, or other companies were prohibited from publicly acknowledging that they had received court orders.