Google Transparency Report now includes the FBI's National Security Letters

Google's Transparency Report has sometimes supplied an unsettling level of detail as to what companies and governments want to know. Americans won't feel much more comfortable now that Google has added the FBI's National Security Letters to the mix. The investigative branch wants the numbers vague for secrecy's sake, but curious residents at least have access to annual data that shows the range of requests for information and roughly how many users were affected -- in this case, about 1,000 to 2,000 Google account holders every year since 2009. Google is quick to note that it does what it can to narrow the scope of requests and require search warrants for anything private. We're slightly reassured by that extra line of defense, although the Transparency Report's addition is still a reminder that the government is watching some of us.