Four of the biggest names in the web published details about government requests for their users’ data. These companies are Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and Facebook. The move is apparently to show that they have limited involvement in the controversial government spying.
Last summer, former spy contractor Edward Snowden revealed that the US government has gathered data from tech industries. Then last summer, the government said they would allow companies to show more details about Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court orders they receive for user details. It can be remembered that Google, Microsoft, and other companies sued the US government last year as they seek the ability to show more details about user data requests.
Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith had this to say about how much data the government asked from them:
“We have not received the type of bulk data requests that are commonly discussed publicly regarding telephone records. This is a point we’ve publicly been making in a generalized way since last summer, and it’s good finally to have the ability to share concrete data.”
Microsoft said that between 15,000 and 15,999 Microsoft-user accounts were subjects of FISA court orders during the first half of last year. The number for Google is between 9,000 and 9,999. Facebook is between 5,000 and 5,999 members’ accounts. Yahoo’s figure is between 30,000 and 30,999.
Details of the user data requests were posted on the companies’ respective blogs.