Facebook, Microsoft release number of data requests from government
By Cecilia Kang, WashPost, Published: June 14
Facebook and Microsoft for the first time on Friday said they had gotten data requests from the government under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, but they added that the U.S. government did not permit them to provide specific figures.
Instead, the government allowed the companies to release only broad numbers with no breakdowns. Over the last six months of 2012, Facebook said, it had received as many as 10,000 requests from local, state and federal agencies, which impacted as many as 19,000 accounts. Facebook has 1.1 billion accounts worldwide. Microsoft said that it received between 6,000 and 7,000 similar requests, affecting as many as 32,000 accounts.
The companies said some of the requests were for terrorism investigations. But others were from a local sheriff asking for data to locate a missing child or from federal marshals tracking fugitives. From these statements, it was impossible to ascertain the scale of the FISA requests made by the National Security Agency.
The companies said they have been pressing the U.S. government for permission to talk more openly about the data requests since The Washington Post and Guardian newspapers reported on a secret surveillance program code-named PRISM that was aimed at tracking terrorist activities. The reports cited an NSA PowerPoint presentation that said the agency connected directly to the servers of Facebook, Google, Microsoft and other tech-industry giants. Another NSA document described the program differently.
(More here.)
Facebook and Microsoft for the first time on Friday said they had gotten data requests from the government under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, but they added that the U.S. government did not permit them to provide specific figures.
Instead, the government allowed the companies to release only broad numbers with no breakdowns. Over the last six months of 2012, Facebook said, it had received as many as 10,000 requests from local, state and federal agencies, which impacted as many as 19,000 accounts. Facebook has 1.1 billion accounts worldwide. Microsoft said that it received between 6,000 and 7,000 similar requests, affecting as many as 32,000 accounts.
The companies said some of the requests were for terrorism investigations. But others were from a local sheriff asking for data to locate a missing child or from federal marshals tracking fugitives. From these statements, it was impossible to ascertain the scale of the FISA requests made by the National Security Agency.
The companies said they have been pressing the U.S. government for permission to talk more openly about the data requests since The Washington Post and Guardian newspapers reported on a secret surveillance program code-named PRISM that was aimed at tracking terrorist activities. The reports cited an NSA PowerPoint presentation that said the agency connected directly to the servers of Facebook, Google, Microsoft and other tech-industry giants. Another NSA document described the program differently.
(More here.)
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