The New York Times reported that Facebook has revealed that in the last six months of 2012, it had 9,000 to 10,000 requests for information about its users from local, state and federal agencies. Those requests covered 18,000 to 19,000 user accounts.
Facebook’s lawyer disclosed these requests involved all different kinds of criminal and security investigations, but the majority involved local criminal cases.
The fact that Facebook is even allowed to discuss these requests alone is a step forward in transparency. Under federal law, companies generally cannot disclose even the existence of national security data requests they receive. But in recent days, Facebook, Google and Microsoft have been pressing the government for permission to share more information. Facebook’s lawyer wrote “[a]s of today, the government will only authorize us to communicate about these numbers in aggregate, and as a range. This is progress, but we’re continuing to push for even more transparency.”
Privacy rights and governmental transparency are essential. We must all work to protect them. McGraw Law & Associates supports these companies striving to give their customers as much information as possible about the security of their accounts.
If your rights have been violated, you can contact the lawyers at McGraw Law & Associates at: (575) 323-1529
Las Cruces, NM