Google, Yahoo, Microsoft reveal how many accounts are snooped by gov't
After the NSA leaks began last summer, tech companies asked for permission to reveal more information about what kind of user data they provide in response to Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court orders.
Today, several companies including Google, Yahoo, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Microsoft are revealing the first information about the amount of user data they're handing over to FISA requests. The disclosures are very broad data that just gives a range of how many users had information requested on them. But it's a small victory for the group of companies, which pushed to be allowed to publish more about the data collection when they petitioned the intelligence court back in August.
However, the companies didn't get everything desired. Google, for instance, asked to break out the information in terms of "FISA orders based on probable cause," "Section 702 of FISA," "FISA Business Records," and "FISA Pen Register/Trap and Trace," but it apparently won't be allowed to go into such specifics. Rather, the information is just broken down into FISA requests that get user content (think actual e-mails) and how many requests there were for "non-content" information. All of the information must be reported on a six-month delay, so the reports out today go up to mid-2013.
