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Google asks US government to let it publish more national security requests for data, including FISA disclosures (update: Microsoft, Facebook too)

Google CEO Larry Page and Chief Legal Officer David Drummond made a general call for more transparency in their response to the PRISM revelations last week, and Drummond has gotten quite a bit more specific with that request today. In a post on the company's Public Policy blog, he says that he's sent a letter to offices of the Attorney General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation asking that Google be allowed to publish aggregate numbers of the national security requests for data it receives, including FISA disclosures, "in terms of both the number we receive and their scope." Those numbers, he says, "would clearly show that our compliance with these requests falls far short of the claims being made," adding, "Google has nothing to hide." You can find the full letter at the source link below.

Update: Reuters is reporting that Microsoft also wants Uncle Sam to loosen up and let it be more transparent with the "volume and scope" of national security requests and FISA orders. "Our recent report went as far as we legally could and the government should take action to allow companies to provide additional transparency," Ballmer and Co. added.

Update 2: Hot off the heels of Redmond's call to the US government, Facebook is voicing similar sentiments regarding increased transparency. "We urge the United States government to help make that possible by allowing companies to include information about the size and scope of national security requests we receive," read a statement released by the social network.