Google Data Seized By FBI With Warrantless Searches Has User Info

Google data seized by the FBI includes customer information.

A federal judge ordered the Google data be handed over to the FBI even in the case of warrantless searches.

Google had called the “government’s practice of issuing so-called national security letters to telecommunication companies, Internet service providers, banks and others was unconstitutional and unnecessary.” But apparently a Federal judge disagrees.

The FBI’s warrantless search on Google data could be used to collect unlimited kinds of private Google customer information, including user’s name, address, length of service, and phone billing records. The FBI can’t use NSLs to obtain anything else from Google, such as Gmail content, search queries, YouTube videos or user IP addresses.

National Security Letters, or NSLs, are typically divided into a request for user data and a gag order preventing the company from revealing the existence of the letter. Companies like Google seeking to challenge an NSL in court must petition to have the letter unsealed, which may potentially let the target of the NSL know the FBI is after them. But a NSL can’t be used by the FBI in ordinary criminal, civil or administrative matters, so the Google data being seized by the FBI would most likely be used in the hunt for terrorists.

Kurt Opsah, an attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, is disappointed the judge allowed Google data to be given to the FBI without warrants:

“We are disappointed that the same judge who declared these letters unconstitutional is now requiring compliance with them.”

What do you think about Google data being seized by the FBI without warrants?