Dive summary:
- The FBI and Department of Justice (DOJ) have cleared Facebook and Microsoft to release some information on the national security-related requests they received; information still must be restricted and numbers can only be revealed in ranges.
- Both companies immediately posted the information in an effort to rebuild trust through their transparency with users and the public.
- Google wasn't satisfied with the government's restrictions and sent a letter to the FBI and DOJ requesting the ability to report FISA and other national security requests separately on their report.
From the article:
"For the six months ended Dec. 31, 2012, Microsoft reported it received between 6,000 and 7,000 criminal and national security warrants, subpoenas and orders affecting between 31,000 and 32,000 consumer accounts from U.S. government entities, including local, state and federal.
Facebook reported it received between 9,000 and 10,000 requests from all government entities affecting between 18,000 and 19,000 accounts. The requests, Facebook's Ullyot said, ran the gamut from a local sheriff trying to find a missing child and a federal marshal tracking a fugitive, to a national security official investigating a terrorist threat."
