Apple Reports on Government Information Requests
Apple has released a detailed report on government information requests about its users. In the 7-page PDF, Apple laments not being able to legally report the number of national security requests in the United States, but says that it’s doing everything short of a lawsuit to liberate that information. Apple says that most of the requests are “device requests” related to stolen devices, which numbered 3,542 in the United States between 1 January 2013 and 30 June 2013. Apple also received 1,000–2,000 “account requests,” covering things like iCloud, iTunes, and Game Center from U.S. law enforcement in the same period. The company mentions several times in the report that it does not profit from the personal data of its users, stores as little as possible, and encrypts everything to the best of its ability.
See also Cyrus Farivar's article in arstechnica, which opens:
"Apple has become one of the first big-name tech companies to use a novel legal tactic to indicate whether the government has requested user information in conjunction with a gag order. Known as a “warrant canary,” this language is encapsulated on Apple’s fifth page of its new transparency report ..., which was published on Tuesday."
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/11/apple-takes-strong-privacy-stance-in-new-report-publishes-rare-warrant-canary/
http://tinyurl.com/qfdvjau
Google publishes similar information, and just posted about it on the company blog:
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2013/11/government-requests-for-user.html