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Apple releases statement on customer privacy, received over 4,000 government information requests in six months
Following the likes of Microsoft and Facebook, Apple has publicly responded to the explosion of interest in the NSA's PRISM program, and has been authorized to reveal some of the data on what it's shared with the US government in the past. It apparently first heard of the program when the media started to ask about it earlier this month and has reiterated that it provides no government agency with direct access to its servers. It does, however, get its fair share of requests for customer data from US law enforcement, receiving between 4,000 and 5,000 of them between December 1 2012 and May 31 2013. These requests covered over 9,000 accounts or devices, and come from federal, state and local authorities. Apple elaborated a little on these information requests too, saying that the majority of these requests have involved searching for missing children, preventing suicides and robberies. The company says it has "always placed a priority on protecting our customers' personal data," and its legal team evaluates each request. Apparently, Apple can't decrypt (and thus share) iMessage and FaceTime data, which is encrypted end-to-end. We've added its full statement after the break.
Google, Twitter push to reveal number of national security related requests separately
While Microsoft and Facebook have both published information tonight about how many requests for customer info the government made over a six month period, Google and Twitter are apparently hoping to take a different route. As Google told AllThingsD and Twitter legal director Benjamin Lee tweeted, "it's important to be able to publish numbers of national security requests-including FISA disclosures-separately." Google went further, claiming that lumping the number of National Security Letters together with criminal requests would be a "step backwards." Clearly this post-PRISM revelations battle for more transparency on just what the government is doing behind the scenes isn't over, we'll let you know if any of the parties involved have more information to share.
Facebook reveals government data request numbers, is first to include national security stats
Facebook lawyer Ted Ullyot revealed in a post tonight precisely how many user-data requests it receives from government entities, and that it's negotiated the ability to include national security-related (FISA and National Security Letters) inquiries in the report. Until now, the companies that receive such requests, whether through the recently uncovered PRISM program or not, have not been able to say anything about them, or report how many there are. Still, the stats it's able to release aren't specific, and include all requests from the last six months in a range, said to be between 9,000 and 10,000, covering between 18,000 and 19,000 accounts. We still have no official reports on what those inquiries cover, how wide reaching a single one can be or what information has been passed along. Facebook however, is quick to point out that these cover "only a tiny fraction of one percent" of its 1.1 billion active user accounts. Along with Microsoft and Google, Facebook has publicly petitioned the government to let it be more transparent about the size and scope of the requests it receives, and Reuters reports tonight that "several" internet companies have struck an agreement to do so. Expect more reports to arrive soon in similar formats, however Ullyot states Facebook will continue to push the government to be "as transparent as possible." For the six months ending December 31, 2012, the total number of user-data requests Facebook received from any and all government entities in the U.S. (including local, state, and federal, and including criminal and national security-related requests) – was between 9,000 and 10,000. These requests run the gamut – from things like a local sheriff trying to find a missing child, to a federal marshal tracking a fugitive, to a police department investigating an assault, to a national security official investigating a terrorist threat. The total number of Facebook user accounts for which data was requested pursuant to the entirety of those 9-10 thousand requests was between 18,000 and 19,000 accounts.
Google asks US government to let it publish more national security requests for data, including FISA disclosures (update: Microsoft, Facebook too)
Google CEO Larry Page and Chief Legal Officer David Drummond made a general call for more transparency in their response to the PRISM revelations last week, and Drummond has gotten quite a bit more specific with that request today. In a post on the company's Public Policy blog, he says that he's sent a letter to offices of the Attorney General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation asking that Google be allowed to publish aggregate numbers of the national security requests for data it receives, including FISA disclosures, "in terms of both the number we receive and their scope." Those numbers, he says, "would clearly show that our compliance with these requests falls far short of the claims being made," adding, "Google has nothing to hide." You can find the full letter at the source link below. Update: Reuters is reporting that Microsoft also wants Uncle Sam to loosen up and let it be more transparent with the "volume and scope" of national security requests and FISA orders. "Our recent report went as far as we legally could and the government should take action to allow companies to provide additional transparency," Ballmer and Co. added. Update 2: Hot off the heels of Redmond's call to the US government, Facebook is voicing similar sentiments regarding increased transparency. "We urge the United States government to help make that possible by allowing companies to include information about the size and scope of national security requests we receive," read a statement released by the social network.
Leaked court documents reveal NSA is collecting bulk call logs from Verizon
A court document published today by The Guardian reveals the NSA is currently collecting call records in bulk from Verizon. The request, granted by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court on April 25th, extends until July 19th and mandates Verizon produce all call detail records on a daily basis to the NSA. The data collected includes the numbers of both parties to a call, how long it lasted, location data, IMEI / IMSI numbers, but not the content of the call or identifying information about the customer. As the report indicates, security officials had revealed bulk collection of call records previously, but until now there has been no indication of it happening under the Obama administration. In 2006 Verizon Wireless was one of the few to state it had not turned over call records to the NSA, but that appears to have changed. Among the many things that are still unknown however, is whether this order is a one time event or one in a series of such requests collecting vast amounts of data on unsuspecting citizens, and whether other communications providers have received orders to do the same.[Image credit: Frédéric Bisson, Flickr]
Editorial: We, the digitally naked
The iPhone 5. It is taller, and has incremental improvements under the hood, and is shiny. (I'm staying away. Typing on glass is wrong.) Of more import, the smartphone you carry is more than a communication device; it is potentially a government surveillance enabler. To whatever extent that is the case (depending on whose public pronouncements you believe), latent digital snooping was reinforced on the same day as the iPhone event. Two days after that, Google announced its intention to build a "Do Not Track" option into the Chrome browser, giving users some shielding from a different type of rampant surveillance -- the type that creepily delivers knowingly targeted ads. The two issues differ in seriousness, but are related as privacy concerns. As our mobile and desktop devices get sexier, we become increasingly naked.
Calyx Institute to create ISP that keeps customer traffic private, away from prying governmental eyes
Wouldn't it be nice if we were free to surf the web free from fear of having our traffic monitored and emails scraped by the NSA? Well, if Nicholas Merrill has his way, we won't have to rely on anonymous browsers or proxy servers -- we'll have a new ISP built from the ground up to protect customer privacy. A non-profit, the Calyx Institute, will run the ISP that'll employ end-to-end encryption on web traffic, plus encrypted emails to prevent anyone other than the user, including the ISP itself, from seeing people's internet activity. Because of this structure, Calyx, quite literally, won't be able to comply with governmental requests to obtain customer traffic data under the Patriot or Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Acts. The best part is, such online privacy may cost as little as $20 a month, and Merrill has hopes to provide a similarly secure VoIP service at some point as well. Of course, the venture will only be possible if Merrill can raise the $2 million needed to get it going -- which is why he's pitching the idea to venture capitalists in Silicon Valley and the general public through crowd-sourced funding site IndieGogo. Want to help out? Hit the source below to make a donation.
