The web is one of the greatest inventions of human history because it
has made the world more transparent. Fundamentally, that’s what the
web does: it takes information that was inaccessible and opaque and
makes it available and lucid.

At CloudFlare, our mission is to build a better web. We hire great
engineers to invent the technical systems that provide anyone a global
platform through which to share their ideas. But, beyond the
technical, if we are to build a better web, we believe it is also
incumbent on us to engage in policy making in furtherance of that
mission.

Troubled Waters

It is from this perspective that we have watched the recent
disclosures over government Internet surveillance with increasing
concern. We are troubled, and I think it is fair to say that the web
in general is troubled, at the secrecy surrounding these programs. No
sensible person disputes that there is a proper and limited role for
law enforcement online. However, the secrecy of this role as it is
currently framed, its lack of transparency, strikes against the core
of what the web stands for. And it is this secrecy that is
fundamentally contrary to CloudFlare’s mission.

We need to have a public debate about the extent to which governments
should or should not surveil the Internet. But, in order to even begin
that debate, first we need to properly understand the current state of
affairs.

Muzzled

What’s absurd is that, today, the Internet’s largest stakeholders are
muzzled from disclosing this topic in any sensible way. If we follow
the letter of the law, we cannot disclose even the fact that we’ve
received certain kinds of legal orders, let alone their contents or
what we’ve done to challenge them. That’s resulted in a sort of Kabuki
dance, where Internet giants find themselves forced to parse the
meaning of phrases like “direct access,” rather than answering their
users’ legitimate questions about what’s going on and how this applies
to them and their private data.

Fundamentally, CloudFlare, Google, Microsoft, Twitter, and all the
Internet giants are in the business of trust. Revealing our customers’
private information to governments or anyone else risks that trust and
is therefore something we will always fight vigorously against.

Silent Fight

At CloudFlare, we hold the data our customers trust with us
sacrosanct. While, to date, we have never been approached to take part
in PRISM or any other similar program, we have on occasion received
legal requests we believe are unreasonable. When that has happened, we
have challenged them on our customers’ behalf—sometimes even going
so far as to take the government to court to fight for our customers’
rights.

We have great stories to tell about how we’ve stood up for our
customers. Hopefully someday we will be able to tell them.

I am encouraged that, from what I’ve seen, by in large just arguments
can still carry the day. I recognize it doesn’t always look that way
from the outside, and I am troubled that our courts and governments
may be headed in the wrong direction. If the goal is justice, then it
is in everyone’s best interest that we be as transparent as possible
about exactly what is going on. It is time for us to have a public
debate, but the first step is to get the most basic facts on the
table.

Challenges

When law and technology intersect there have always been
challenges. Technology often serves to undercut law and flow around
the restrictions law puts in place. Occasionally, at the opposite
extreme, technology serves to amplify law and extend its reach beyond
where we, as a society, were ever comfortable.

When the laws that gave rise to the FISA court and National Security
Letters (NSLs) were passed, only just a decade ago, it was hard to
imagine you could record and store every telephone conversation. Today
that is conceivable. Without a public vote or any conscious decision,
technology has amplified the reach of the law to a place where many of
us are no longer comfortable.

It is time for us, as a society, to have a debate about what laws we
are comfortable with given today’s technology. In order to do that, we
need to have a clear and honest accounting of the current state of
affairs. And, in order for that to happen, we need to remove the
muzzle and allow companies and governments to talk honestly about what
is going on.

Next Steps

Today we did a very modest thing: CloudFlare joined with more than 40
other companies and organizations signing a letter calling for greater
transparency in law enforcement actions online. This is not the end,
but it is a necessary beginning. It is time for us to have a public
debate and the first step is getting the basic facts on the table.

President Barack Obama
The White House

Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper
Office of the Director of National Intelligence

The Honorable Harry Reid
Senate Majority Leader, United States Senate

The Honorable John Boehner
Speaker of the House, United States House of Representatives

The Honorable Patrick J. Leahy
Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate

The Honorable Bob Goodlatte
Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary

The Honorable Dianne Feinstein
Chairman, Senate Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, United States Senate

The Honorable Mike Rogers
Chairman, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence

Attorney General Eric Holder
United States Department of Justice

General Keith Alexander
Director
National Security Agency

The Honorable Mitch McConnell
Senate Minority Leader
United States Senate

The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
House Minority Leader
United States House of Representatives

The Honorable Charles E. Grassley
Ranking Member
Committee on the Judiciary
United States Senate

The Honorable John Conyers, Jr.
Ranking Member
Committee on the Judiciary

The Honorable Saxby Chambliss
Vice Chairman
Senate Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
United States Senate

The Honorable Dutch Ruppersberger
Ranking Member
House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence

July 18, 2013

We the undersigned are writing to urge greater transparency around
national security-related requests by the US government to Internet,
telephone, and web-based service providers for information about their
users and subscribers.

First, the US government should ensure that those companies who are
entrusted with the privacy and security of their users’ data are
allowed to regularly report statistics reflecting:

• The number of government requests for information about their users made under specific legal authorities such as Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act, Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act, the various National Security Letter (NSL) statutes, and others;
• The number of individuals, accounts, or devices for which information was requested under each authority; and
• The number of requests under each authority that sought communications content, basic subscriber information, and/or other information.

Second, the government should also augment the annual reporting that
is already required by statute by issuing its own regular
“transparency report” providing the same information: the total number
of requests under specific authorities for specific types of data, and
the number of individuals affected by each.

As an initial step, we request that the Department of Justice, on
behalf of the relevant executive branch agencies, agree that Internet,
telephone, and web-based service providers may publish specific
numbers regarding government requests authorized under specific
national security authorities, including the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Act (FISA) and the NSL statutes. We further urge
Congress to pass legislation requiring comprehensive transparency
reporting by the federal government and clearly allowing for
transparency reporting by companies without requiring companies to
first seek permission from the government or the FISA Court.

Basic information about how the government uses its various law
enforcement-related investigative authorities has been published for
years without any apparent disruption to criminal investigations. We
seek permission for the same information to be made available
regarding the government’s national security-related authorities.

This information about how and how often the government is using these
legal authorities is important to the American people, who are
entitled to have an informed public debate about the appropriateness
of those authorities and their use, and to international users of
US-based service providers who are concerned about the privacy and
security of their communications.

Just as the United States has long been an innovator when it comes to
the Internet and products and services that rely upon the Internet, so
too should it be an innovator when it comes to creating mechanisms to
ensure that government is transparent, accountable, and respectful of
civil liberties and human rights. We look forward to working with you
to set a standard for transparency reporting that can serve as a
positive example for governments across the globe.

Thank you.

Companies
AOL
Apple Inc.
CloudFlare
CREDO Mobile
Digg
Dropbox
Evoca
Facebook
Google
Heyzap
LinkedIn
Meetup
Microsoft
Mozilla
Reddit
salesforce.com
Sonic.net
Stripe
Tumblr
Twitter
Yahoo!
YouNow

Investors
Boston Common Asset Management
Domini Social Investments
F&C Investments
New Atlantic Ventures
Union Square Ventures
Y Combinator

Nonprofit Organizations & Trade Associations
Access
American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression
American Civil Liberties Union
American Library Association
American Society of News Editors
Americans for Tax Reform
Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law School
Center for Democracy & Technology
Center for Effective Government
Committee to Protect Journalists
Competitive Enterprise Institute
Computer & Communications Industry Association
The Constitution Project
Demand Progress
Electronic Frontier Foundation
First Amendment Coalition
Foundation for Innovation and Internet Freedom
Freedom to Read Foundation
FreedomWorks
Global Network Initiative
GP-Digital
Human Rights Watch
Internet Association
National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
National Coalition Against Censorship
New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute
OpenTheGovernment.org
Project On Government Oversight
Public Knowledge
Reporters Committee for Freedom of The Press
Reporters Without Borders
TechFreedom
Wikimedia Foundation
World Press Freedom Committee

Via Cloudflare.com