Microsoft GC attacks secrecy of surveillance court

July, 09 2014

Brad Smith, Microsoft's general counsel, has said that the secretive US Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court does not use an 'approach inclined to promote justice'.

Microsoft's general counsel said that the secretive US Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court does not use an 'approach inclined to promote justice'. Taina Sohlman

Increasingly well-known for entering into controversial privacy debates, Mr Smith told the Brookings Institution that the court creates law ‘that the American public is not permitted to read’. The court is used to review government data requests in the context of the fight against terrorism. But, says Mr Smith, ‘only one side gets to tell its story’. Source: ABA