Yahoo sues US government for transparence in digital spying

Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) has joined two other big US tech companies in suing the US government. 


The search giant is pushing for greater transparency in connection with the government’s digital spying programs, according to Value Walk.

Yahoo! Inc has filed a lawsuit against the US government in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. It’s an attempt to require more accountability in connection with its digital spying programs. Microsoft Corporation and Google Inc both filed suits in the same court for the same right earlier this year.

Ron Bell, General Counsel for the company, announced the lawsuit in a blog post on Tumblr. According to the post, the complaint demands the right to disclose publicly the number of requests the company receives from US officials under national security statutes. It comes on the heels of the company’s first transparency report release, which was last week.

The company also said it took “a series of legal actions” in the same court in an attempt to push US officials to release more information to the general public. According to Yahoo! Inc, last week’s transparency report includes information about all types of data requests from various government agencies, including those from criminal law enforcement and those from national security authorities.