Internet firms release data on NSA spy requests
WASHINGTON (AP) — Major technology firms have released new data on how often they are ordered to turn over customer information for secret national security investigations — figures showing the government collected data on thousands of Americans.
The Monday release came after the technology firms were freed by a legal deal with the government.
The publications disclosed by Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, Facebook, LinkedIn and Tumblr provided expanded details and some vented criticism about the government's handling of customers' Internet data in counterterrorism and other intelligence-related probes.
The figures from 2012 and 2013 showed companies such as Google and Microsoft were compelled by the government to provide information on as many as 10,000 customer accounts in a six-month period. Yahoo complied with requests on more than 40,000 accounts in the same period.
