WikiLeaks is demanding an explanation from Google regarding a recently uncovered issue claiming that the search engine giant has been handing out sensitive WikiLeaks information to the United States government for more than two and a half years.
The warrant was issued by a federal judge in March 2012 and WikiLeaks resented the fact that Google only informed them last month about their actions, according to The Guardian.
In a letter sent to Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt, WikiLeaks said that it is "astonished and disturbed" that it took Google nearly three years to inform its subscribers about the warrant. WikiLeaks also added that Google has deprived its users their rights against "illegal searches" and the warrant is clearly in violation of laws regarding "privacy."
The letter came from WikiLeaks' lawyer, Michael Ratner who is also a member of the Center For Constitutional Rights. Ratner demanded that Google will have to release a full list of material that was provided to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Ratner also added that they want to know if Google has filed any counter-measure in order to challenge the warrant or if the company has received additional demands from other U.S. agency.
On December 2014 three members of the WikiLeaks organization received a message from Google saying that various data on their Google accounts along with private email contents were handed to the FBI in 2012, according to MarketWatch. The report added that the warrant was issued against the WikiLeaks employees due to allegation concerning espionage and theft.
On the other hand, Google did not reveal what kind of documents was handed over to the U.S. government. The company on said that they only shared "responsive documents pursuant to the Electronic Communications Privacy Act."
A spokesperson from Google said that "When we receive a subpoena or court order, we check to see if it meets both the letter and the spirit of the law before complying."