Microsoft received over 1,000 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) requests from the US government in the first half of 2016 alone – the highest number in the company’s recorded history

RT, 14 Apr, 2017 22:45

Microsoft received over 1,000 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) requests from the US government in the first half of 2016 alone – the highest number in the company’s recorded history.

This was more than double the number of requests in the preceding six-month period the company stated in a Transparency report published online Thursday.

Microsoft also published a redacted National Security Letter the company received from the FBI. The correspondence sought specific user information and also functioned as a temporary gag order, preventing the corporation from disclosing the request to the public.

In 2015, Congress included additional transparency measures in the USA Freedom Act, allowing tech companies (such as Yahoo, Google, Facebook and Twitter) to publish similar letters from the FBI in recent months, reports The Hill.

Following a number of widely publicized leaks involving the scope of US intelligence gathering both at home and abroad, such practices by US authorities have come under increased scrutiny in recent months.   Read More