Technology companies ask for more transparency

                  The Independent Yahoo, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft move towards Transparency on NSA Leak International Business Times Yahoo is not alone in this trend towards transparency. Apple revealed it received between 4,000 and 5,000 requests for access to accounts and devices and on June 14, Facebook said it had received between 9,000 and 10,000 requests for access. The revelations that the NSA may be compromising encryption standards, tech companies in the U.S are on the defensive, answering the potential threat to their own reputations with expressions of outrage and a volley of petitions to publish more information about government requests.
            On Friday, Yahoo joined Google, Twitter, Microsoft and Facebook and released its first government transparency report detailing the number of requests it had fielded from countries around the world. It compiled with 98% of requests from the U.S. government.
              Google filed a transparency petition on Monday seeking the ability to publish detailed statistics about information sought for U.S. foreign intelligence gathering. Google is also closing some of its own data back doors in the wake of the NSA allegation, it says the Washington post. Google is racing to encrypt the torrents of information that flow among its data centers. Google maintains that it does not provide any government including the U.S. government, with access to our systems.
                Yahoo published the company's first transparency report, indicating that it had received 12,444 data requests from the U.S. government relating to 40,322 accounts in the first six months of 2013. Yahoo alleged the snooping substantial potential for abuse, while Microsoft has significant concerns and will be pressing the government for an explanation.
                 Facebook published its own transparency report on Aug, 27, also got into the fray, the social network's general counsel published a letter describing the company's previous requests for more transparency. Facebook's latest global data request report showed that the U.S. government led the global call for data requests and asking for details of over 38,000 Facebook users in the first six months of 2013.
                  Tech companies are flexing some legal muscle to get around the gag orders. Yahoo, Google, Microsoft and Facebook have filed lawsuits against the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance court. Facebook just last week and the other companies in June. They want the U.S. government to allow tech companies to divulge more information about its requests for user data. Zuckerberg told that "I think its my job and our job to protect everyone who uses Facebook and all the information they share with us. Its the government job to protect all of us."