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Google is reportedly pushing back on the government's request for data via secret National Security Letters (NSLs).

As reported by Bloomberg, Google last week filed a "petition to set aside legal process" with a California district court. Given the sensitive nature of the data involved, Google requested and was granted the right to have the proceedings sealed, so the content of the filing is currently inaccessible.

A Google spokesman declined to comment. But last month, the company started adding details about NSL requests to its transparency reports. The data is vague, but Google said it worked with the FBI to "find a way to provide more information about the NSLs we get—particularly as people have voiced concerns about the increase in their use since 9/11."

About a week later, the same California court in which Google filed its petition ruled that NSLs are unconstitutional. Two provisions of the federal law governing NSLs violate the Constitution, Judge Susan Illston found, but because the NSL program cannot exist without those provisions, the court halted the entire NSL program. The ruling goes into effect 90 days after the judgment, pending appeal.


The EFF told Bloomberg that most firms that receive NSLs do not challenge them, but a powerful company like Google is in a good position to do so because of its resources.