Court: any partnership between Google and NSA can remain secret

05/11/12: Legal Times reports a federal appeals court in Washington today said any communication about cybersecurity and encryption between Google and the National Security Agency (NSA) can remain secret.  The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit upheld the dismissal of a public records suit by an advocate for online privacy rights, the Electronic Privacy Information Center.  Writing for a unanimous three-judge panel, Judge Janice Rogers Brown rejected the argument that any partnership between Google and the NSA should be officially disclosed through a records request because the company and the agency's connection was revealed earlier in news articles.  The court said NSA has never officially acknowledged a collaboration with Google and “the national media are not capable of waiving NSA’s statutory authority to protect information related to its functions and activities.”