Facebook Inc. (FB) and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) said they received thousands of warrants for data from government entities in the U.S. during the second half of 2012.
Facebook received 9,000 to 10,000 requests, while Microsoft got 6,000 to 7,000, their legal executives said in blog posts yesterday. The companies, seeking to reassure users that authorities don’t have unfettered access to personal details, said the numbers are a “tiny fraction” of their user bases.
Google Inc. (GOOG), Facebook and Microsoft asked the U.S. government for more leeway this week to report aggregate numbers of data requests, following reports that the U.S. National Security Agency is collecting millions of residents’ telephone records and the Web communications of foreigners under court order. While the companies have denied giving authorities direct access to their systems, thousands of technology, finance and manufacturing businesses are swapping intelligence with security agencies, four people familiar with the process said.
“With more than 1.1 billion monthly active users worldwide, this means that a tiny fraction of one percent of our user accounts were the subject of any kind of U.S. state, local, or federal U.S. government request” during the six months, Ted Ullyot, Facebook’s general counsel, said in a blog post. “We hope this helps put into perspective the numbers involved, and lays to rest some of the hyperbolic and false assertions in some recent press accounts about the frequency and scope of the data requests that we receive.”
“With more than 1.1 billion monthly active users worldwide, this means that a tiny fraction of one percent of our user accounts were the subject of any kind of U.S. state, local, or federal U.S. government request” during the six months, Ted Ullyot, Facebook’s general counsel, said in a blog post. “We hope this helps put into perspective the numbers involved, and lays to rest some of the hyperbolic and false assertions in some recent press accounts about the frequency and scope of the data requests that we receive.”
Data Disclosure
Facebook, based in Menlo Park, California, said it complied with 79 percent of the requests. Inquiries sent to Facebook covered between 18,000 and 19,000 accounts and included everything from local governments to NSA requests, according to the company.
“This only impacts a tiny fraction of Microsoft’s global customer base,” John Frank, Microsoft’s deputy general counsel wrote in a blog post. “We continue to believe that what we are permitted to publish continues to fall short of what is needed to help the community understand and debate these issues.”
Both companies said they will push to release more information to restore public confidence in the security of their data.
Google’s Data
Google, based in Mountain View, California, is also holding discussions with authorities to disclose more information about national-security requests, two other people with knowledge of the matter said. The world’s biggest search provider said it has “nothing to hide,” according to an open letter to Attorney General Eric Holder and Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Robert Mueller released this week.
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