[governance] Yahoo says it received 12,000-13,000 data requests from US law enforcement during a six-month period.

[Carolina Rossini]

original Yahoo post -
http://yahoo.tumblr.com/post/53243441454/our-commitment-to-our-users-privacy

Yahoo releases figures on thousands of government requests for user data
By Jennifer Martinez - 06/18/13 09:37 AM ET

Yahoo is the latest tech company to release data on the number of
government requests for user data it receives in the wake of the
revelations over the National Security Agency's (NSA) Internet surveillance
program.

The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Internet company received between 12,000 and
13,000 requests from U.S. law enforcement for user data in the last six
months, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer and General Counsel Ron Bell said Monday in
a *post*<http://yahoo.tumblr.com/post/53243441454/our-commitment-to-our-users-privacy>
on
the company's Tumblr account. The most common requests sent to Yahoo
"concerned fraud, homicides, kidnappings and other criminal investigations."

Unlike its Silicon Valley peers Google and Twitter, Yahoo has not
previously published a report that discloses the number of government
requests it receives for user data. But the two executives said that would
change this summer, when it will issue its first global law enforcement
transparency report that provides data on government requests for user
information from the first half of the year.

"Democracy demands accountability," Mayer and Bell write.

Yahoo will update the transparency report with new figures twice a year.

Facebook, Microsoft and Apple have*
released*<http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/305887-apple-releases-data-on-thousands-of-requests-for-user-data-from-us-law-enforcement>
similar
figures in recent days in an attempt to maintain user trust in their
handling and protection of people's personal data following revelations
about the NSA's PRISM program. Reports earlier this month said tech
companies had given the government access to the contents of users' emails,
video chats and other information as a part of this surveillance program.

Tech companies have vehemently denied the reports and said they have not
allowed the government to tap into their servers and access user data. In
response, tech giants have released information about the number of
government requests they receive for user data in an effort to boost
transparency about the types of requests they receive and how they handle
them.

The tech giants have also voiced their commitment to protection their
users' privacy and vowed to maintain their trust.

"We will continually evaluate whether further actions can be taken to
protect the privacy of users and our ability to defend it," Mayer and Bell
write. "We appreciate — and do not take for granted — the trust you place
in us."

Google, in particular, has stepped forward and argued that publishing the
total number of government requests a company receives for user data isn't
enough. Google contends that companies should break out the number of
criminal and FISA court requests they receive.

In its Transparency Report, the search giant breaks down its figures,
providing numbers for national security letters separately from criminal
ones. It also breaks down requests it receives via search warrant and
subpoena.

The government has yet to give tech companies permission to publish figures
for FISA court requests separately from its aggregate data.

Twitter, which has not been linked to PRISM, has voiced support for
Google's stance. In its Tumblr post, Yahoo took the same position and
pressed the government to give companies permission to disclose such
figures.

"Like all companies, Yahoo! cannot lawfully break out FISA request numbers
at this time because those numbers are classified; however, we strongly
urge the federal government to reconsider its stance on this issue," Mayer
and Bell write.


Read more:
http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/306153-yahoo-joins-tech-companies-in-releasing-figures-on-government-requests-for-user-data#ixzz2Waurq100

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-- 
*Carolina Rossini*
http://carolinarossini.net/
+ 1 6176979389
*carolina.rossini at gmail.com*
skype: carolrossini
@carolinarossini
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