Google opposes NSA requests for information

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Google has sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder and also to FBI Directer Mueller ... asking for permission to be able to publicize  National Security Requests that Google gets.    Google in the letter saying that "... assertions in the press that our compliance with these requests give the U.S. Government unfettered access to our users' data ... are simply untrue.  ..... we therefore ask you to help make it possible for Google to publish in our transparency report aggregate numbers of National Security requests including FISA (?) disclosures in terms of numbers received and their scope."

Following immediately (as it does) on the tail of my last commentary, I find it interesting that the communications magnates which have been tapped by the Federal Government to provide data on their customer contacts has generated public concern on this, at least the first Internet Provider who is anxious to cry: "Hey!  It's not US, it's THEM!" At least, there are some places you can go finger-pointing:

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UPDATE: SAME DAY

ACLU sues Obama administration over NSA surveillance

National Security Agency surveillance programs came under more scrutiny Tuesday as the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit and a prominent senator and Internet giant Google called on the Obama administration to disclose more information.
In its lawsuit, the ACLU said an NSA program that harvests phone calls violates the rights of all Americans.
"The program goes far beyond even the permissive limits set by the Patriot Act and represents a gross infringement of the freedom of association and the right to privacy," said Jameel Jaffer, the ACLU's deputy legal director.

 The ACLU is a "Croquet Balls to Prison Walls" legal defense group which takes its defense of Civil Liberties (read: "The Constitution") to extreme measures.  You probably don't always agree with them, but sooner or later they're going to say something which you (perhaps reluctantly) agree with.   They piss me off frequently with their civil action suits, but I have a sneaking admiration for them all the time, even when I don't like their assumed position in interpreting the Constitution.  They are the ONE group in the world which is NEVER going to ignore the foundation of civil law in America.

So when they talk .. it's the fool who doesn't at least listen to what they say, and think carefully, before he goes ahead and curses them "anyway".

The article continues:

... Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, told reporters she has asked Gen. Keith Alexander — the head of the NSA and U.S. Cyber Command — to declassify more information about its phone and Internet surveillance programs.
The goal is "so that we can talk about them, because I think they're really helpful," she said.

 Even Di-Fi has her moments ... which proves the adage that the wise man can even learn from fools.

In its lawsuit — which deals just with the phone call program — the ACLU said that the NSA collection system violates rights of free speech and privacy. The ACLU noted it is a customer of Verizon Business Network Services, the recipient of a secret court order published by The Guardian last week. The order requires Verizon to turn over all phone call details, including who places them, who receives them and when and where they are made.
"The crux of the government's justification for the program is the chilling logic that it can collect everyone's data now and ask questions later," said Alex Abdo, a staff attorney for the ACLU's National Security Project. 

[emphasis added]

I don't know if they're right, or if they're wrong.  All I know is that there is someone asking questions, and they have the weight to demand that the Federal Government not arbitrarily dismiss their questions.

If the ACLU never performs another public service, it is sufficient in that it has called for an  accounting of the acts of our Federal Government, and they will not be ignored.