海角大神

Internet giant Yahoo, whose website portal is the fourth-most trafficked site on the planet, said it fought the US government鈥檚 sweeping domestic surveillance programs 鈥渆very step of the way鈥� seven years ago as American intelligence officials began to demand access to users鈥� private data without traditional warrants.

On the 13th anniversary of 9/11, Yahoo announced it would release nearly 1,500 pages of previously secret documents that described the company鈥檚 failed constitutional challenge to the provisions in the , signed into law six years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, which allowed the government to collect information originating overseas.

Among the revelations: Yahoo said that the US government threatened to fine the company $250,000 a day if it did not comply with its demands for data.

The company fought for the release of the classified documents, part of the secret proceedings of the US Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, also known as the FISA court, which rejected Yahoo鈥檚 contention that the government surveillance program, conducted without probable-cause warrants, was overbroad and unreasonable and violated the Fourth Amendment. 聽

鈥淲e consider this an important win for transparency, and hope that these records help promote informed discussion about the relationship between privacy, due process and intelligence gathering,鈥� wrote Ron Bell, Yahoo鈥檚 general counsel, in a Thursday.

The documents were unsealed by the FISA court at the company鈥檚 request, he wrote.

Tensions in the relationship between personal privacy and the needs of national security have become one of the most vexing conundrums of the digital age, many social thinkers say.

But the full scope of the issues of government power and transparency in free society only came to light last year with the revelations of Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency analyst who leaked thousands of classified government documents, shocking the nation with the wide range and technical precision of the government鈥檚 domestic spying programs.

鈥淭he balance between liberty and security has always been a delicate on in our nation鈥檚 history, and it goes back to the very founding,鈥� says Aram Sinnreich, a digital privacy expert at Rutgers University鈥檚 School of Communication and Information in New Bruswick, N.J. 鈥淏ut what鈥檚 really changed now is that the scope of information that can be collected, and the amount of intelligence that can be pulled out of it, has skyrocketed as we have increasingly relied on networked communications to conduct our daily affairs.鈥�

The FISA court ruling against Yahoo became a critical moment in the government鈥檚 electronic surveillance efforts, forcing other major US tech companies, including Google, Facebook, and Apple, to comply with unprecedented demands for user data.

The ruling, too, came as the government implemented the newer PRISM surveillance program, which could scan almost all of the country鈥檚 electronic data 鈥� including e-mails, voice chats, and social media information 鈥� and search for tell-tale keywords or other signals of potential security threats.

鈥淭he temptation, I think, for the American government to err on the side of caution is very sincere,鈥� says Professor Sinnreich. 鈥淟eft or right, popular or unpopular, no politician wants to preside over a major terrorist attack on our own soil, and they鈥檙e going to do whatever they believe it takes to make sure it doesn鈥檛 happen.鈥�

Yahoo鈥檚 announcement of its efforts to resist what it views as the government鈥檚 overreach, however, was especially suggestive on the anniversary of 9/11, some observers say.

鈥淭he secrecy that surrounds these court proceedings prevents the public from understanding our surveillance laws,鈥� said Patrick Toomey, staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, in a statement Thursday. 鈥淵ahoo should be lauded for standing up to sweeping government demands for its customers' private data.

鈥淏ut today鈥檚 release [of documents] only underscores the need for basic structural reforms to bring transparency to the NSA鈥檚 surveillance activities,鈥� Mr. Toomey said.

Mr. Bell, Yahoo鈥檚 attorney, said the company would soon provide online links for the some 1,500 pages of formerly classified documents, which could once again rekindle the ongoing debate over privacy and security.

鈥淚 think there鈥檚 a national conversation that needs to continue in the wake of whistleblowers like ... Edward Snowden,鈥� says Sinnreich. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a national conversation about what we want our values to be in a networked world, and I think that鈥檚 a very good thing.鈥澛�

鈥淭he onus on us to make sure that security is adequately counterbalanced by liberty in that grand equation is greater than it鈥檚 ever been,鈥� he says.