WikiLeaks wants to know why Google took two and a half years to notify three WikiLeaks staff members that it had handed over their Gmail data to the U.S. authorities.
Gigaom reports that WikiLeaks section editor Sarah Harrison, spokesperson Kristinn Hranfsson and journalist Joseph Farrell were notified by Google on Christmas Eve 2014 that back in 2012, the company had been forced by a Virginia district court to hand over their emails, email metadata, draft and deleted emails, contact addresses, and the IP addresses from which they had logged in.
On Sunday, WikiLeaks published the search and seizure warrants, as well as the emails the three had received from Google claiming the legal process was initially subject to a nondisclosure or ‘gag’ order that prohibited Google from disclosing the existence or details of the legal process to them.
WikiLeaks have also published an open letter to Google chairman Eric Schmidt demanding copy of the gag order, and a full report of all Gmail account data that Google provided the authorities. A small part of the letter read as follows:
Gigaom reports that WikiLeaks section editor Sarah Harrison, spokesperson Kristinn Hranfsson and journalist Joseph Farrell were notified by Google on Christmas Eve 2014 that back in 2012, the company had been forced by a Virginia district court to hand over their emails, email metadata, draft and deleted emails, contact addresses, and the IP addresses from which they had logged in.
On Sunday, WikiLeaks published the search and seizure warrants, as well as the emails the three had received from Google claiming the legal process was initially subject to a nondisclosure or ‘gag’ order that prohibited Google from disclosing the existence or details of the legal process to them.
WikiLeaks have also published an open letter to Google chairman Eric Schmidt demanding copy of the gag order, and a full report of all Gmail account data that Google provided the authorities. A small part of the letter read as follows:
We are astonished and disturbed that Google waited over two and a half years to notify its subscribers that a search warrant was issued for their records…
Had Ms Harrison, Mr Hranfsson, or Mr Farrell been aware of such proceedings they could have intervened and protected their interests including their rights to privacy, association and freedom from illegal searches.
The letter was drafted by Center for Constitutional Rights president
Michael Ratner, and also asks Google if they challenged the warrants
before complying and handing the Gmail data over to the authorities. It
is unclear how long the gag order that prevented Google from notifying
the WikiLeaks staff of the seizure was in place for.
Posts
.jpg)
0 comments:
Post a Comment