Facebook announced today that it received between 9,000 and 10,000 requests for user data from the U.S. government in the second half of 2012. Following suit, Microsoft said it received 6,000 to 7,000 criminal and national security warrants from local, state, and federal U.S. government entities during that same time period. In total, between 18,000 and 19,000 Facebook accounts and 31,000 to 32,000 Microsoft consumer accounts were involved. The two companies released the information after striking agreements with the U.S. government. The releases come amidst fallout from disclosure about a secret government data-collection program. Google said it avoided a similar agreement since it would be “a step back for users.” Read more from Reuters: reut.rs/12MBB5G
Posted on: Sat, 15 Jun 2013 12:39:18 +0000