Appeal (Made) to Keep Twitter Data from WikiLeaks Probe

[Hissyspit]

Source: AFP

Appeal to keep Twitter data from WikiLeaks probe

by Glenn Chapman – Fri Mar 25, 11:03 pm ET
SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) – Internet rights attorneys appealed a US judge's order that Twitter must hand over data of three users in contact with the controversial website WikiLeaks.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) challenged the March 3 ruling on behalf of Icelandic parliamentarian Birgitta Jonsdottir, one of the Twitter users targeted by the decision.

The EFF and ACLU want Magistrate Judge Theresa Buchanan's decision overturned and WikiLeaks investigators to reveal any similar requests for information from other Internet firms.

"Except in very rare circumstances, the government should not be permitted to obtain information about individuals' private Internet communications in secret," said ACLU staff attorney Aden Fine. "If the ruling is allowed to stand, our client might never know how many other companies have been ordered to turn over information about her, and she may never be able to challenge the invasive requests."

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110326/tc_afp/usdiplomacycourtinternetwikileakstwitter