TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Microsoft struggled through a rare legal challenge against secretive data requests from the FBI last year. Mashable reported that the company has succeeded to force FBI to withdraw their request.
The request, known as the National Security Letter (NSL), has asked for Microsoft data concerning an unnamed enterprise customer’s account in late 2013. The request came with a gag order, meaning the company could not disclose the request to anyone, including customer.
Microsoft challenged the gag order in court, alleging it violated its free speech rights. FBI withdrew the NSL after the challenge.
"We concluded that the nondisclosure provision was unlawful and violated our Constitutional right to free expression," wrote Microsoft's general counsel Brad Smith as quoted by Mashable. "It did so by hindering our practice of notifying enterprise customers when we receive legal orders related to their data."
Microsoft obtained the permission to release the information about the case to the public and requested the judge to unseal the documents of the case. The power of NSLs was expanded by the Patriot Act after 9/11, and privacy advocates have been fighting them for years.
"This is a really encouraging sign that the companies that we trust with our sensitive information are beginning to stand up for our privacy," Alex Abdo, a staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties, told Mashable. "Unfortunately until there's either legislative reform or a definitive legal ruling, the excessive secrecy that we've seen with NSLs will likely continue," he said.
ERWIN Z | MASHABLE