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Google
petitioned the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Court for permission to
publish data (AFP/File, Karen Bleier)
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The court
filing in Washington came amid a firestorm of protests over revelations that
the National Security Agency had accessed vast amounts of data in a
surveillance program under the supervision of the special court, which operates
in secret.
Google said
it already publishes in its "transparency report" data on requests
from law enforcement and so-called National Security Letters from the FBI.
"However,
greater transparency is needed, so today we have petitioned the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Court to allow us to publish aggregate numbers of national
security requests, including FISA disclosures, separately," a Google
spokesperson said.
"Lumping
national security requests together with criminal requests -- as some companies
have been permitted to do -- would be a backward step for our users."
FISA refers
to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which authorized the secret
court.
Google said
it was seeking a court ruling to allow it to publish "limited, aggregate
statistics" on orders for the company to hand over data.
"Google's
reputation and business has been harmed by the false and misleading reports in
the media, and Google's users are concerned by the allegations," the
petition said.
The company
said it was asking the court to affirm its "right" under the First
Amendment of the US Constitution to publish the information.
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