Apple Inc. releases first report on government requests for customer information

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/11/05/207560/apple-inc-releases-first-report.html



Apple Inc. releases first report on government requests for customer information
By Jonathan S. Landay — McClatchy Interactive
Published: November 5, 2013 Updated 13 hours ago

Apple Inc. on Tuesday released its first report on the numbers of requests it received in the first half of this year from governments seeking customer account and data information, and - no surprise here - the United States outpaced the rest of the world combined.

But the company couldn't disclose precisely how many U.S. government requests it received and the extent to which it complied. That's because U.S. restrictions required Apple to combine national security orders with account-based law enforcement requests - subpoenas, court orders and warrants - and report only the combined amounts in increments of 1,000.

"The U.S. government does not allow Apple to disclose, except in broad ranges, the number of national security orders, the number of accounts affected by the orders, or whether content, such as emails, was disclosed," said the report. "We strongly oppose this gag order, and Apple has made the case for relief from these restrictions in meetings and discussions with the White House, the U.S. Attorney General (Eric Holder), congressional leaders and the courts."

The issue has become politically heated since leaks of top-secret documents by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden showed how the agency - in its hunger for intelligence on terrorists and other countries - has forced telecommunications firms through secret court orders to turn over daily customer data in bulk.