Google MUST hand over sensitive details for thousands of users to FBI - even without a warrant



Google must comply with the FBI's warrantless demands for large amounts of customer data, a federal judge has ruled.



In a ruling written May 20 and obtained on Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston ordered the company to accede to the FBI's secret requests for information.



She rejected Google's argument that the government's practice of issuing so-called national security letters to telecommunication companies, Internet service providers and banks was unconstitutional and unnecessary.



Popular: Hundreds of million of people use Google's gmail service. A judge has ruled that the company must hand over users' details to the FBI, even without a warrant

Go-ahead: FBI Director Robert Mueller testifies at a Senate Subcommittee. Judge Susan Illston rejected Google's complaint that the government's so-called national security letters are unconstitutional and unnecessary

FBI counter-terrorism agents began issuing the secret letters, which don't require a judge's approval, after Congress passed the USA Patriot Act in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.



The letters are used to collect unlimited kinds of sensitive, private information, such as financial and phone records and have prompted complaints of government privacy violations in the name of national security.



The FBI made 16,511 national security letter requests for information regarding 7,201 people in 2011, the latest data available.

Many of Google's services, including its dominant search engine and the popular Gmail application, have become daily habits for millions of people.



Judge Illston ordered Google to comply with the FBI's demands on May 20 but put her ruling on hold until the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals could decide the matter.



Until then, the Mountain View, Calif.-based company must comply with the letters unless it shows the FBI didn't follow proper procedures in making its demands for customer data in the 19 letters Google is challenging, she said.



At risk? Google must now comply with the FBI's demands. The FBI made 16,511 national security letter requests for information regarding 7,201 people in 2011, the latest data available

After receiving sworn statements from two top-ranking FBI officials, Illston said she was satisfied that 17 of the 19 letters were issued properly. She wanted more information on two other letters.



It was unclear from the judge's ruling what type of information the government sought to obtain with the letters. It was also unclear who the government was targeting.



The decision from the San Francisco-based Illston comes several months after she ruled in a separate case brought by the Electronic Frontier Foundation over the letters.



She ruled in March that the FBI's demand that recipients refrain from telling anyone - including customers - that they had received the letters was a violation of free speech rights.



Kurt Opsah, an attorney with the foundation, said it could be many more months before the appeals court rules on the constitutionality of the letters in the Google case.



'We are disappointed that the same judge who declared these letters unconstitutional is now requiring compliance with them,' Opsah said on Friday.



Illston's May 20 order omits any mention of Google or that the proceedings have been closed to the public.



But the judge said 'the petitioner' was involved in a similar case filed on April 22 in New York federal court.



Discussion: FBI Executive Assistant Director Richard McFeely (left) speaks at the Reuters Cybersecurity Summit in Washington in May

Public records show that on that same day, the federal government filed a 'petition to enforce National Security Letter' against Google after the company declined to cooperate with government demands.



Google can still appeal Illston's decision. The company declined comment Friday.

