Last month, the Department of Justice released over 3 million documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. While the dumps shed light on Epstein’s own social circle and activities, they also provide a rare window into the inner workings of a federal investigation, including how tech companies like Google respond to government requests for information.
WIRED found several grand jury subpoenas addressed to Google in the DOJ’s most recent release, along with files that appear to be Google data produced about specific users and letters on Google letterhead responding to specific subpoena requests.
Google declined to comment on the specific documents included in the dumps, but spokesperson Katelin Jabbari said in a written statement that the company’s “processes for handling law enforcement requests are designed to protect users’ privacy while meeting our legal obligations. We review all legal demands for legal validity, and we push back against those that are overbroad, including objecting to some entirely.”
The documents show how much the government will sometimes attempt to obtain without a judge’s sign-off, how Google pushes back against requests that it says are beyond what’s required by law, and what types of information the company has turned over about its users.
Secret by Design
Subpoenas are normally shrouded in secrecy. A 2019 letter signed by the then US attorney for the Southern District of New York and addressed to Google’s legal department prohibited the company by law from revealing the letter’s existence to Epstein coconspirator Ghislaine Maxwell, the subject of the subpoena, for 180 days from the date of the order. The letter also instructed Google to alert prosecutors if it planned to tell Maxwell about the existence of the order after the 180 days were up, “in case the investigation remains ongoing and the order needs to be renewed.”
Even when not required by law, prosecutors requested Google’s silence. A 2018 letter instructing Google to preserve all emails (including those in draft and trash folders) and Google Drive content associated with four gmail accounts also requested that Google not disclose the existence of the letter to anyone, including the people who owned the accounts. The letter also requested that Google notify federal prosecutors if the company intended to make a disclosure, so the prosecutors could “obtain a non-disclosure order if necessary.”
It’s unclear whether Google informed the account holders of the redacted emails after the 180-day period described in the 2019 letter were up. Google’s privacy and terms says that when it receives a request from a government agency, it will email the subject of that request before it discloses that information, unless it is prohibited by law.
Back to Basics
Many of the files included in the Epstein dumps were titled “GOOGLE SUBSCRIBER INFORMATION,” and contained the account name, recovery email address and phone numbers, what Google services the account can access, when the account was created, the “Terms of Service IP” address, and a log of IP address activity.
Mario Trujillo, a senior staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, says that subscriber information requires the lowest legal bar for the government to access under the Stored Communications Act, a 1980s law that lays out a lot of the rules for what kind of information the government can access from electronic service providers like Google.
While some types of information, like email contents, require a search warrant under the law, “on the opposite end of that is basic subscriber information,” Trujillo says. The act explicitly permits the government to obtain that information with just a subpoena, which does not necessarily require judicial approval.
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![‘Bluey’ has an unexpected Dropout connection beyond the ‘Game Changer’ shock
Watching Bluey, the beloved Australian cartoon show for kids, you might not think of Dropout, a streaming platform that revels in adult humor. But thanks to Game Changer‘s provocative Season 8 premiere episode, “Don’t Wake Standards and Practices,” Dropout CEO and host Sam Reich has revealed an incredible connection between the comedy streamer and the hit cartoon. To answer burning questions we had about Game Changer‘s “Don’t Wake Standards and Practices,” Mashable Entertainment Editor Kristy Puchko spoke with Reich about the ins and outs of the “legally spicy” episode. When asked about Lou Wilson’s Bluey rant — during which a parody of the adorable pup appeared onscreen — Reich revealed that he’d previously worked with Bluey creator Joe Brumm. “I don’t think that most people know this,” Reich said. “It’s the tiniest little diatribe, but we did an animated series really early on for Dropbox called What the Fuck 101, which was like a messed-up Magic School Bus.”
Mashable Top Stories
“At the time,” Reich explained, “The chief animator of that [show] was like, ‘I’m gonna have to pull double duty on this and another project that’s been green-lit, because it’s really personal to me.’ And so, simultaneously, this guy, Joe Brumm, was doing What the Fuck 101 and the first season of Bluey. And before that, he did a huge number of College Humor shorts. I mean, all over his resume, the biggest thing on his resume was College Humor before it was Bluey.” Reich clearly relished his time working with Brumm, both at College Humor and its spinoff streamer Dropout. And of Bluey, he said, “I’ve watched a fair amount of it. It’s fantastic. It’s so heartfelt and distinct and original, and it’s a work of art. And you would never guess the other things that Studio Joho was doing for us.”WTF 101 is now streaming on Dropout. Bluey is now streaming on Disney+.
#Bluey #unexpected #Dropout #connection #Game #Changer #shock](https://i0.wp.com/helios-i.mashable.com/imagery/articles/001JAfkt9KatQlBMCHig0nR/hero-image.fill.size_1200x675.v1779124876.jpg?ssl=1 "‘Bluey’ has an unexpected Dropout connection beyond the ‘Game Changer’ shock
Watching Bluey, the beloved Australian cartoon show for kids, you might not think of Dropout, a streaming platform that revels in adult humor. But thanks to Game Changer‘s provocative Season 8 premiere episode, “Don’t Wake Standards and Practices,” Dropout CEO and host Sam Reich has revealed an incredible connection between the comedy streamer and the hit cartoon. To answer burning questions we had about Game Changer‘s “Don’t Wake Standards and Practices,” Mashable Entertainment Editor Kristy Puchko spoke with Reich about the ins and outs of the “legally spicy” episode. When asked about Lou Wilson’s Bluey rant — during which a parody of the adorable pup appeared onscreen — Reich revealed that he’d previously worked with Bluey creator Joe Brumm. “I don’t think that most people know this,” Reich said. “It’s the tiniest little diatribe, but we did an animated series really early on for Dropbox called What the Fuck 101, which was like a messed-up Magic School Bus.”
Mashable Top Stories
“At the time,” Reich explained, “The chief animator of that [show] was like, ‘I’m gonna have to pull double duty on this and another project that’s been green-lit, because it’s really personal to me.’ And so, simultaneously, this guy, Joe Brumm, was doing What the Fuck 101 and the first season of Bluey. And before that, he did a huge number of College Humor shorts. I mean, all over his resume, the biggest thing on his resume was College Humor before it was Bluey.” Reich clearly relished his time working with Brumm, both at College Humor and its spinoff streamer Dropout. And of Bluey, he said, “I’ve watched a fair amount of it. It’s fantastic. It’s so heartfelt and distinct and original, and it’s a work of art. And you would never guess the other things that Studio Joho was doing for us.”WTF 101 is now streaming on Dropout. Bluey is now streaming on Disney+.
#Bluey #unexpected #Dropout #connection #Game #Changer #shock")
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