Yahoo Got The US Government To Declassify PRISM Documents

Last week, Yahoo asked a U.S. surveillance court to let the public see its arguments in a 2008 case regarding the National Security Agency's PRISM surveillance program.

Yahoo argued that if information from the case was made public, people would better understand how Yahoo fought strongly against the program. But under federal law, the 2008 rulings and arguments made by Yahoo and other tech companies, is treated as classified information.

Yahoo won its battle yesterday, reports the Associated Press.

The U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court ruled that it would declassify certain documents. As part of the court order, the government must review which parts of the opinion, briefs, and arguments can be made public. It has until July 29 to do so.

The PRISM program came to light thanks to whistleblower Edward Snowden, a former NSA contractor who has since fled the U.S.

As the AP notes, making public information from a secret ruling is not unprecedented, but it's definitely rare.