Microsoft Releases Transparency Reports on Law Enforcement Requests, FISA Orders

Microsoft had more than 31,000 law enforcement requests for more than 52,000 users between July and December 2014, said a company blog post Friday. Microsoft disclosed the “subscriber” or “transactional data” for more than 73 percent of those requests, it said. The U.S. generated more than 5,400 requests. Microsoft said it received between 19,000 and 19,999 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act orders for content that affected accounts between January and June 2014. The orders have a six-month reporting delay, it said. “While we saw little change from the proceeding period in the overall number of law enforcement and government requests for Microsoft customer data, the world around us continues to change,” it said. “In the 14 months since the government agreed to greater transparency for reporting national security orders, we’ve seen new threats emerge around the globe,” said Microsoft, which reaffirmed its support of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act and USA Freedom Act (see 1409220038).