How did Section 215 gag orders limit businesses that received government demands for records?

Under Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act, the government was granted the authority to demand "any tangible things"—including books, records, and documents—from third parties through a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court order.1

To ensure the secrecy of these investigations, the section imposed a gag order that generally prohibited the businesses or individuals receiving these demands from disclosing the fact that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had sought or obtained such records.1

Critics argued that these gag orders were problematic because they applied even in instances where there was no genuine need for secrecy, potentially undermining First Amendment freedoms of speech and association. By preventing businesses from notifying the public or the targets of the surveillance, the provision limited transparency regarding government data collection practices.1