In its recent filing of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the National Security Agency (NSA), privacy advocacy group Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) has sought details about the agency’s supposed affiliation with Google Inc., pertaining to cybersecurity issues.

In its FOIA request, the EPIC said: “There is particular urgency for the public to obtain information about the relationship between the NSA and Google. As of 2009, Gmail had roughly 146 million monthly users, all of whom would be affected by any relationship between the NSA and Google.”

The EPIC filing follows the reports, including one by the Washington Post, that Google and NSA are purportedly nearing a settlement, as a result of which the NSA will extend help to Google to better defend itself against cyberattacks.

As per the reports making rounds, Google approached the NSA soon after the recent cyberattacks, which it claimed had originated in China.

According to the Post, the Google-NSA agreement that is currently being worked out neither gives the NSA an access to e-mail accounts or search information of Google users, nor does it allow Google to share any proprietary data.

Meanwhile, in a separate action, the EPIC has also filed a lawsuit against the NSA and the National Security Council, in an attempt to seek additional information on the extent of NSA’s sway in matters related to the security of US computer networks.