EFF sues to uncover government demands to decrypt communications

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is suing the U.S. Department of Justice over its failure to disclose if Internet companies have been compelled to decrypt user data and communications.

The EFF action targets applications to and decisions by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), a Washington, D.C., based court that meets in secret to consider cases related to government surveillance and national security.

The court’s decisions are classified, and Internet companies are prohibited from disclosing any details about warrants received as a result of arguments in front of the court.

The result is that little is known about the extent of the court’s activities. In October, the EFF filed a freedom-of-information request seeking more information but, according to its lawsuit, the DOJ said it couldn’t find any documents relating to the issue.

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