NSA snooping: Facebook reveals details of data requests - BBC News

14 June 2013 Last updated at 21:55 ET Facebook received 9,000-10,000 requests for user data from US government entities in the second half of 2012, the company has revealed. The firm said the requests related to 18,000-19,000 user accounts and covered criminal and national security issues. Leaks by an ex-government worker this month suggested a much larger electronic spying operation than had previously been admitted. The US maintains the programme helped thwart dozens of terrorist attacks. Facebook's Ted Ullyot said in a post on the company's blog that the requests pertained to a wide range of investigations, including missing children, federal fugitives, local petty crimes and terrorist threats. Mr Ullyot did not indicate to what extent the company had fulfilled the requests, but said Facebook had "aggressively" protected its users' data. "We frequently reject such requests outright, or require the government to substantially scale down its requests, or simply give the government much less data than it has requested," he said. Earlier this month, a former contract computer technician for the US National Security Agency (NSA) admitted leaking to the Guardian and Washington Post newspapers details about NSA programmes that seize vast amounts of data from internet and telephone companies. Edward Snowden, 29, fled the US to Hong Kong shortly before the newspapers published his revelations. His whereabouts are unknown, and he has vowed to fight extradition to the US should US authorities attempt to prosecute him. via Technology - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNGOoYEOxFhL9ypVGK8TwV6fddLKGQ&url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-22916329

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