Internet giant Google has included stats on user data requests from FBI in its recent Transparency Report, saying it has received between zero and 999 letters a year since 2009 that have asked for private information of 1,000 – 2,999 users. The company explained its use of ranges instead of exact figures due to concerns of the FBI and the US Department of Justice that “releasing exact numbers might reveal information about investigations.”
National security letters (NSLs) compel Google to expose“name, address, length of service, and local and long distance toll billing records” of specified users. NSLs are said to be used only for conducting national security investigations by the US government.
Google’s FAQ assures the FBI is still not permitted to obtain user email content, search queries, YouTube videos or IP addresses. Representatives from Google have previously dismissed allegations of disclosing such data, publicly as well as in court.