Internet companies begin releasing some data on government spying

Xeni Jardin 1:54 pm Sat Jun 15, 2013

Facebook and Microsoft have reached a agreements with the U.S. government "to release limited information about the number of surveillance requests they receive," which Reuters' Joe Menn and Gerry Shih report is a partial victory for the companies struggling with "fallout from recent disclosures about the NSA's secret program. "

Facebook and Microsoft released some information about the scope of secret orders with which each company has complied.

Google said Friday it is "negotiating with the government and that the sticking point was whether it could only publish a combined figure for all requests," adding that this would be "a step back for users," because it "already breaks out criminal requests and National Security Letters, another type of intelligence inquiry."

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