Electronic Frontier Foundation - EFF recently launched a campaign calling on companies to stand with their users when the government comes looking for data. (If you haven’t done so, sign our petition urging companies to provide better transparency and privacy.) This article will provide a more detailed look at one of the four categories in which a company can earn a gold star in our campaign: fighting for users' privacy rights in court.
This category recognizes those companies that have gone to court to fight for their users' privacy interests in response to government demands for information--companies that have actually filed briefs and made legal arguments defending their users' privacy rights. A gold star in this category is especially important considering that in many cases, only the company itself will be in a position to challenge the government's attempt to obtain user information. Those companies that have done so publicly are deserving of public commendation.
Therefore, we gave Yahoo! a full gold star for its work last year in the Colorado federal court, fighting the Justice Department's attempt to seize a Yahoo! user's email without probable cause. Not only did Yahoo! oppose the government's demand in court, it also convinced the court to unseal the otherwise secret proceeding so that EFF could file a brief in the case. In the face of stiff opposition, the government ultimately backed down and withdrew its demand. Read More
