11 Years Later, We Finally Know What’s in a National Security Letter (It’s Bad)

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Back in 2004, Nicholas Merrill, who was then president of Calyx Internet Access, received a National Security Letter (NSL) from the FBI. These letters are notoriously authoritarian in that they come with a gag order that prevents the receiving party from even informing its customers it has received one.

Fortunately for us all, Nicholas Merrill refused to comply, and decided to fight the gag order in court. Eleven years later, his efforts have paid off, and we finally know just how awful these NSLs really are.

From ArsTechnica:

The National Security Letter (NSL) is a potent surveillance tool that allows the government to acquire a wide swath of private information—all without a warrant. Federal investigators issue tens of thousands of them each year to banks, ISPs, car dealers, insurance companies, doctors, and you name it. The letters don’t need a judge’s signature and come with a gag to the recipient, forbidding the disclosure of the NSL to the public or the target.

This is not what a free nation with appropriate due process looks like.

For the first time, as part of a First Amendment lawsuit, a federal judge ordered the release of what the FBI was seeking from a small ISP as part of an NSL. Among other things, the FBI was demanding a target’s complete Web browsing history, IP addresses of everyone a person has corresponded with, and records of all online purchases, according to a court document unveiled Monday. All that’s required is an agent’s signature denoting that the information is relevant to an investigation.

The FBI subsequently dropped demands for the information on one of Merrill’s customers, but he fought the gag order in what turned out to be an 11-year legal odyssey just to expose what the FBI was seeking. He declined to reveal the FBI’s target.

The NSL got a major boost in the wake of the 2001 terror attacks, as it became part of the USA Patriot Act. Between 2003 and 2005, the FBI issued 143,074 NSLs according to a Justice Department inspector general report.

Jameel Jaffer, the American Civil Liberties Union deputy legal director, said that “the FBI has imposed effectively permanent gag orders on tens of thousands of NSL recipients… This kind of secrecy prevents the public from learning how the government’s surveillance authorities are used, distorts public debate, shields policymakers from accountability for their decisions, and insulates surveillance powers from judicial review.”

Merrill’s lawsuit took six years before he was able to say he received an NSL targeting one of his customers. Litigation continued until Monday, when Merrill was finally allowed to disclose what the FBI was demanding.

The government fought disclosure of an attachment detailing what the FBI was seeking, claiming its exposure would harm national security. A judge disagreed.

Thank you Nicholas Merrill, for fighting to expose these Kafkaesque letters on our behalf.

For related articles, see:

Parents Beware – The FBI is Launching Program to Recruit High School Kids

The Full Letter Written by the FBI to Martin Luther King Has Been Revealed

American Justice – FBI Lab Overstated Forensic Hair Matches in 95% of Cases, Including 32 Death Sentences

The New York Post Reports – FBI is Covering Up Saudi Links to 9/11 Attack

The FBI Busts Up Another of its Own Terrorist Plots and Politicians Rush to Blame the First Amendment

FBI Moves to Broaden Hacking Authority – Google Says it Poses “Monumental Constitutional Concern”

FBI Documents Show Plot to Kill Occupy Leaders If “Deemed Necessary” – Yet Details Are Kept From the Public…Why?

In Liberty,
Michael Krieger

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5 thoughts on “11 Years Later, We Finally Know What’s in a National Security Letter (It’s Bad)”

  1. “11 Years Later, We Finally Know What’s in a National Security Letter (It’s Bad)”

    Lucky you, MIke. Shame you only wrote a comment piece about your knowledge, without actually bothering to publish the national security letter concerned, thus sharing the knowledge.

    Reply
  2. As one of the MANY YEARS “pre-Snowden” (March 2002) Nat Sec Whistlblower’s associated with ILLEGAL USG / USG “Contractor-Partner” Tele Tech Holdings (TTEC / Tele Tech Government Solutions there is a VERY good reason FBI-DOJ NSL’s start with “Under the authority of Executive Order 12333, dated December 4, 1981, and pursuant to Title 18, United States Code (U.S.C.), Section 2709 (as amended, October 26, 2001)” Now pay attention to that date… December 1981…if you really want to understand just how long this has really been going on. As bad as you think it is…I assure you that it’s WORSE! Go to the Yahoo (PRISM) Financial Message Board for TTEC. I am FPVSFF. Peace. Mark J. Novitsky

    Reply

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