Judge to Google: comply with warrantless FBI data requests

A federal judge has ordered Google to comply with the FBI's warrantless requests for user data, rejecting its claim that the demands are illegal. Google had requested that the court modify or discharge 19 National Security Letters, a form of request that bypasses the courts and which generally forbids the recipient from disclosing their existence. The hearing, presided over by U.S. District Court Judge Susan Ilston, was held in secret, reports CNET; the FBI issued nearly 200,000 of the letters between 2003 and 2006, with 97 percent including a gag order.