CREDO Transparency Report – Q2 2021
CREDO has a long history of defending civil liberties and fighting against abuses of power that threaten Americans’ constitutional rights to privacy. We are working for full repeal of the USA PATRIOT Act and FISA Amendments Act. Until such time as full repeal can be achieved, as well as afterward, we strongly believe there should be as much transparency as possible regarding government surveillance, and that our customers have the right to know when governmental entities request access to their information or communications. Accordingly, we are today publishing a quarterly transparency report detailing the number of April, May, June 2021 governmental requests to CREDO for customer information and the content of customer communications that are not subject to a legal order not to disclose.
CREDO requires law enforcement entities to obtain a U.S. subpoena, court order, or warrant in order to obtain CREDO customer information and does not voluntarily provide third parties special access to user data for the purpose of surveillance. It is our policy to notify our customers, whenever allowed by law, of the existence of a governmental request for their information. It is important to note that it may not be possible for CREDO or any telecom carrier to release to the public a full transparency report, as the USA PATRIOT Act and other statutes give law enforcement the ability to prevent companies from disclosing whether or not they have received certain orders, such as National Security Letters (NSLs) and Section 215 orders seeking customer information. CREDO publicly advocates for the repeal of such statutes that fail to adequately protect the due process rights of its subscribers. In the case of NSLs, CREDO is committed to using all available statutory procedures to ensure that each request to CREDO accompanied by an indefinite gag is reviewed by a judge. CREDO has fought for the right to disclose each NSL it has received in the past and will continue to do so.
Number of Requests to CREDO
Number of governmental requests for customer information pursuant to subpoena, summons, court order, or other non-emergency process: 0 Number of emergency governmental requests for customer information:2: 0 Number of governmental requests for which some or all information requested was produced: 0 Number of governmental requests for which customer communication content information requested (including wiretap requests) was produced: 0 Number of customer accounts for which customer information was produced: 0 Number of governmental requests to remove user content or accounts: 0 Note: Our report does not include information requests that include an authorization signed by the customer (e.g., to trace a lost or stolen phone) or civil requests.ORIGIN, LOCATION, AND TYPE OF REQUEST
CREDO provides US-based telecom services.| Type of Request | Requesting Agency | Was some or all of requested customer information provided? | Customer State |
|---|---|---|---|
| N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Newly Reportable Requests from Past Report Periods
Number of National Security Letters received between July 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020: 0-9993 Number of customer selectors targeted by National Security Letters received between July 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020: 0-9993CREDO Advocacy and Funding
CREDO supports the repeal of the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 and the FISA Amendments Act of 2008. Until full repeal can be achieved, CREDO will continue to support reform of the worst abuses of both acts. This includes rolling back the National Security Letter (NSL) provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act, and making FISA Court opinions public so that the American people know how the secret FISA court is interpreting the law. CREDO is a committed funder of civil liberties groups, with more than $2.6 million in donations to American Civil Liberties Union, Center for Constitutional Rights, Demand Progress, Fight for the Future and the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Transparency Report Release Date: August 5, 2021PREVIOUS REPORTS:
CREDO Transparency – Past ReportsLAW ENFORCEMENT GUIDELINES:
Law Enforcement Guidelines
1 Customer information refers to non-content information such a customer’s name, address, bill information, or handset or account information. Regarding the content of customer communications, CREDO does not receive or store the content of customer communications sent using our services except customer communications directed to us for customer service purposes. This report includes only CREDO’s requests and does not include requests that may have been directed to another carrier. Requests received at the end of a quarter are counted in the quarter in which CREDO responds to those requests.
2 CREDO evaluates emergency requests to ensure they satisfy the requirements of 18 USC § 2702(c)(4) and/or (b)(8).
3 CREDO publishes this information for its previous Transparency Report pursuant to Section 603 of the USA FREEDOM Act. This information will be updated on CREDO’s July and January Transparency Reports, for the preceding six month period. CREDO believes that the gag on companies regarding National Security Letters is unconstitutional. What companies are allowed by current law to disclose in this report—NSLs received over a 6 month period in a range of 0-499 or 0-999—is not meaningful disclosure; it’s a joke. CREDO has challenged the constitutionality of NSL gags in court and will continue to fight on this issue at every opportunity.
