Secret FBI demands for data go beyond tech companies

WASHINGTON — The FBI has sent secretive written demands for information to more than 120 companies in recent years — including telecommunications providers, technology firms and credit agencies — according to documents released Friday, raising new questions about the government’s ability to quietly gather data on people.

The demands, called national security letters or NSLs, are issued without court oversight and typically are accompanied by gag orders on the companies. The people whose data is being requested rarely know of the NSLs or have the chance to contest their demands in court.

The new documents, released through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by civil liberties group Electronic Frontier Foundation, underscore ongoing questions about the effectiveness of a 2015 law designed, in part, to bring some transparency to the issuing and enforcing of NSLs.

Atop the list of companies that the documents show received NSLs are credit agencies Equifax, Experian and TransUnion; telecommunications providers AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon; financial services companies Bank of America, Western Union and Capital One; and technology companies Google, Microsoft and Facebook. Some received dozens, others just a few.

None of the companies commented Friday on the disclosures aside from saying that they comply with the requirements of NSLs, as mandated by law.

NSLs are written directives from the FBI demanding confidential communication or financial transaction records.