LONDON: Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Microsoft and Apple are among the companies who have released transparency reports, and the latest name on the list is Snapchat. As with other similar reports there is a limit to what they are able to reveal, but it does show that various agencies had an interest in no fewer than 666 Snapchat accounts.
The report covers the period November 1, 2014 to February 28, 2015. While it is more usual to wait until six months’ of data is available, Snapchat decided to jump the gun slightly “in the interest of transparency”. So what does the report tell us? The number involved is actually fairly low.
A total of 375 requests were received, affecting 666 “account identifiers” which Snapchat points out refers to things such as username, email address, phone number, and it is probably that multiple identifiers relate to the same account. Data was produced in 92 percent of cases, with search warrants yielding the greatest results 96 percent of 172 requests. 89 percent of 159 subpoenas results in the production of data.
Announcing the availability of this first report, Snapchat says that updates will be released twice a year.
While the vast majority of Snap chatters use Snapchat for fun, it’s important that law enforcement is able to investigate illegal activity. Privacy and security are core values here at Snapchat and company strongly oppose any initiative that would deliberately weaken the security of our systems. Snapchat is committed to keeping your data secure and will update this report bi-annually.
The next report is due in July and will include more information such as “government requests we have received for users’ account information, government demands to remove users’ content, and requests to takedown content for alleged copyright violations”.
