A federal judge Friday ordered the U.S. government to stop issuing “national security letters” — secret demands made of telecommunications companies for their customers’ private data that forbid recipients from discussing the orders with most anyone.

Susan Illston, a California district court judge, said the letters ran afoul of the First Amendment rights of the parties being served the orders. The letters came into use after 9/11 under the Patriot Act and are among the most secretive tools used by the government to collect information in its alleged counterterrorism campaign.

National security letters were at the center of the story of Nicholas Merrill, a former New York City-based Internet provider who was the first to successfully refuse an order to hand over customer data.

— Posted by Alexander Reed Kelly.