Google, Facebook and Microsoft on Tuesday urged the US government to allow them to publish more national security request data.
 
Google said that it has worked tremendously hard over the past fifteen years to earn its users’ trust.
 
“For example, we offer encryption across our services; we have hired some of the best security engineers in the world; and we have consistently pushed back on overly broad government requests for our users’ data”, it said in a letter to the offices of the Attorney General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
 
It said that it has always made clear that it complies with valid legal requests. Last week, the Director of National Intelligence acknowledged that service providers have received Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) requests.
 
“Assertions in the press that our compliance with these requests gives the U.S. government unfettered access to our users’ data are simply untrue. However, government nondisclosure obligations regarding the number of FISA national security requests that Google receives, as well as the number of accounts covered by those requests, fuel that speculation” it said.
 
Google asked the government to help make it possible for it to publish in its Transparency Report aggregate numbers of national security requests, including FISA disclosures, in terms of both the number it receives and their scope.

"Permitting greater transparency on the aggregate volume and scope of national security requests, including FISA orders, would help the community understand and debate these important issues," Microsoft said in a statement.
 
“We provide customer data only when we receive a legally binding order or subpoena to do so, and never on a voluntary basis. In addition we only ever comply with orders for requests about specific accounts or identifiers. If the government has a broader voluntary national security program to gather customer data we don’t participate in it, Microsoft said last week. 
 
Facebook said that it would welcome the opportunity to provide a transparency report that allows it to share with those who use Facebook around the world a complete picture of the government requests we receive, and how we respond.
 
Ted Ullyot, Facebook's general counsel in a statement said, "We urge the United States government to help make that possible by allowing companies to include information about the size and scope of national security requests we receive, and look forward to publishing a report that includes that information."

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