Apple Reveals It Received at Least One Secret FBI Request For User Data. In its biannual transparency report, Apple revealed that it received a National Security Letter. Chris Cornells passing was the first death of a musical artist to really bum me out. I probably listen to his songs on a daily basis, so the news hit me hard. But unlike other tech companies who have been ordered to turn over customer information to the FBI, Apple hasnt yet published the demand letter it received. Apples transparency report also includes several new categories of government requests, an indication that the company is becoming more granular in the way it reports data about its interactions with law enforcement. The FBI uses National Security Letters NSLs to obtain consumer information from tech companies without a warrant. The process doesnt require approval from a judge, but the FBI can only obtain basic subscriber information through the process, like an email address. NSLs used to be issued in secret, with indefinite gag orders that prevented companies from ever acknowledging their existence. But since the passage of the USA Freedom Act in 2. FBI is required to routinely review the indefinite gag orders. Some orders have been lifted and tech firms are slowly being allowed to acknowledge their receipt of NSLs. Yahoo, Google, Cloudflare, and Microsoft have all published NSLs in the last year. Apples latest transparency report, which covers July through December 2. NSL. The letters are typically light on details, but they do reveal when the request was made and which FBI bureau made it. Feat-Tyler.png' alt='Everybody Hates Chris Season 5 Kickass' title='Everybody Hates Chris Season 5 Kickass' />They also contain the customer information used to make the request, such as their email address or account name, but thats redacted. If Apple does publish its letter, it would likely shed more light on when it received the FBI demand. Apples use of declassified in its reporting language, along with the fact that it usually takes some time for the FBI to review old gag orders, suggests that Apple probably received the NSL some time ago and is only now allowed to make that fact public. Apple says it received somewhere between 5,7. NSLs and FISA orders. The requests impacted 4,7. ZDNet. We report all the national security orders we have received, including orders received under FISA and NSLs, in bands of 2. Though we want to be more specific, this is currently the narrowest range allowed by the government, Apple wrote in the report. In 2. 01. 6, Apple answered 1. Thats up from 9,8. Apple says that, although requests are on the rise overall, approximately 8. The other 2. 0 percent tend to be for i. Watch The Hundred-Foot Journey Download Full. Watch The Dirty Picture Torent Free more. Cloud account data like photos or messages. It attributes the increasing requests to its sales numbersmore people than ever own Apple devicesand to law enforcements growing appetite for useful investigative data. For law enforcement, Apple can be a particularly rich source of useful information. Although Apple resists law enforcement requests it considers overreaching and encrypts information stored on its devices, it can turn over data stored in i. Cloud. i. Cloud data proved particularly useful earlier this year during an effort to reveal the identity of a Twitter user who allegedly tweeted a seizure inducing gif at the writer Kurt Eichenwald. Although Twitter was only able to provide a dummy email address and phone number to law enforcement, Apple was able to reveal the users identity. Hes now facing criminal charges related to the tweet. Apples transparency report also breaks down seven new categories of requests, including emergency government requests and private party requests for account information. Other tech companies dont often break out requests from private parties, but Apples report notes that these kinds of requests are growing, thanks to litigation.