Apple will begin informing users of government data requests

Apple and other tech companies have been demanding more transparency from the U.S. government about such data requests in the wake of the NSA controversy.

The Washington Post reports that companies like Apple are planning to defy authorities by notifying users of secret data requests from law enforcement agencies as they believe a user has the right to know in advance when their information is being targeted.

Fueling the shift is the industry’s eagerness to distance itself from the government after last year’s disclosures about National Security Agency surveillance of online services. Apple, Microsoft, Facebook and Google all are updating their policies to expand routine notification of users about government data seizures, unless specifically gagged by a judge or other legal authority, officials at all four companies said. Yahoo announced similar changes in July.

The report notes that companies who have been routinely informing users have found that demands for such data requests from the government have dropped to avoid suspects learning of such inquiries. Prosecutors have warned that the change in policy by tech companies will undermine their investigations as it will tip off criminals who could destroy digital evidence before it can be gathered. However, Albert Gidari Jr., a partner at Perkins Coie who represents several technology companies believes that “It serves to chill the unbridled, cost-free collection of data, and I think that’s a good thing.”
The Post points out:

The government traditionally has notified people directly affected by searches and seizures — though often not immediately — when investigators entered a home or tapped a phone line. But that practice has not survived the transition into the digital world. Cellular carriers such as AT&T and Verizon typically do not tell customers when investigators collect their call data.
Many tech companies once followed a similar model of quietly cooperating with law enforcement. Courts, meanwhile, ruled that it was sufficient for the government to notify the providers of Internet services of data requests, rather than the affected customers.

The report notes that Apple will not notify users of data requests approved by the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Court, and also in case of subpoenas issued by the FBI for national security investigations.
[via The Washington Post]

Posted in: Apple iPhone, News iPhone/ iPod