Internet Giants Reveal Secret Government Data Requests

Facebook, Google, Microsoft And Yahoo have all released information on the data requests they received from the secret court which grants the National Security Agency access to their users’ data.

Following the Edward Snowden leaks, all were cited as partners in the PRISM initiative, used by NSA to gain access to the companies’ servers, yet all denied knowledge of the programme and protested their innocence.

It was claimed requests under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act were being granted without proper oversight and US and foreign citizens were being spied on illegally. Decisions were often kept secret, but now the tech titans have won the right to reveal some information on the FISA court’s reach, thanks to a decision by President Obama’s government earlier this month.

Data requests revealed

In the first six months on 2013, Google said it received between 9,000 and 9,999 FISA requests for data from user accounts, compared to between 15,000 and 15,999 for Microsoft. Facebook had between 5,000 to 5,999.

But Yahoo, which is considerably more popular in the US than in Europe, had far more, with between 30,000 and 30,999.

The data requests do not refer to individual users, but separate accounts. People can hold more than one account.

Despite being allowed to reveal such information for the first time, the tech giants remain unhappy at the lack of transparency.

“We still believe more transparency is needed so everyone can better understand how surveillance laws work and decide whether or not they serve the public interest,” wrote Richard Salgado, legal director, for law enforcement and information security at Google, in a blog post.

“Specifically, we want to disclose the precise numbers and types of requests we receive, as well as the number of users they affect in a timely way. That’s why we need Congress to go another step further and pass legislation that will enable us to say more.”

Brad Smith, general counsel and executive vice president, legal and corporate affairs, said the company would continue to take action after reports of intelligence agency hacking of tech firms’ IT infrastructure.

“Despite the President’s reform efforts and our ability to publish more information, there has not yet been any public commitment by either the US or other governments to renounce the attempted hacking of Internet companies,” Smith added, in a blog post.

“We believe the Constitution requires that our government seek information from American companies within the rule of law.  We’ll therefore continue to press for more on this point.”

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