Microsoft, Yahoo!, others release FISA request data

Written by Larry Seltzer, Contributing Editor

Larry Seltzer Contributing Editor

Larry Seltzer has long been a recognized expert in technology, with a focus on mobile technology and security in recent years. He was most recently Editorial Director of BYTE, Dark Reading and Network Computing at UBM Tech.

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Posted in Between the Lines on February 3, 2014 | Topic: Government: US

Apple, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft and Yahoo! have released additional data on government requests for user account data and content, pursuant to an agreement reached recently with the Department of Justice .

These are the announcements made by the various companies.

• Apple: Update on National Security and Law Enforcement Orders
• Facebook: Facebook Releases New Data About National Security Requests
• Google: Shedding some light on Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) requests
• LinkedIn: Transparency Report 1H 2013 (includes data for several other countries)
• Microsoft: Providing additional transparency on US government requests for customer data
• Yahoo!: More Transparency For U.S. National Security Requests

The agreement provides for two methods of reporting data, one in bands of 1000 and the other in bands of 250, each option with different rules. As described in our earlier report on the data released by Google, Facebook and LinkedIn , most of the companies have chosen the 1000 band option. In both cases, the data cannot be revealed until it is six months old.

The table below consolidate all the disclosed numbers from Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo. LinkedIn and Apple chose to use the alternate scheme, the numbers for which are below the table. Note that Google provided data beginning in January 2009, although we did not include it. You can find it in their announcement.

Both Apple and LinkedIn chose the alternate reporting scheme in bands of 250. Under these rules, the companies must combine the numbers of FISA requests disclosed with those of National Security Letters (NSLs), another form of government request. The companies have already been releasing data on the NSLs and most re-released it in their announcements today, the links for which are above. This approach clearly would appeal to companies with small numbers of requests.

For the period January 2013 through June 2013, both Apple and LinkedIn received between 0 and 249 National Security orders affecting between 0 and 249 accounts.

Apple and LinkedIn also disclosed certain statistics about requests.