Facebook Has 25 People Dedicated To Handling Gov't Info Requests 125
nonprofiteer writes "A profile of Facebook's CSO reveals that his 70-person security team includes 25 people dedicated solely to handling information requests from law enforcement. They get thousands of calls and e-mails from authorities each week, though Facebook requires police to get a warrant for anything beyond a subscriber's name, email and IP address. CSO Joe Sullivan says that some government agency tried to push Facebook to start collecting more information about their users for the benefit of authorities: 'Recently a government agency wanted us to start logging information we don't log. We told them we wouldn't start logging that piece of data because we don't need it to provide a good product. We talked to our general counsel. The law is not black-and-white. That agency thinks they can compel us to. We told them to go to court. They haven't done that yet.'"
Spin/damage control... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Wait, what? (Score:5, Interesting)
If they were REALLY interested in protecting the privacy of their users, they'd publish any requests they recieved from law enforcement.
Re:Wait, what? (Score:5, Interesting)
Really? So if someone falsely accused you of pedophilia, you'd want that information request published regardless of the fact you're innocent and there's nothing to find?
Facebook NOT logging something? (Score:5, Interesting)
What could possibly be so privacy-invading, not-worth-the-disk-space-to-log-it crazy that Facebook doesn't already log it? These people make tons of money selling every minute bit of data and metrics about their suckers^H^H^H^H^H^H^Husers that they can possibly hoover up. What could it be that even *they* wouldn't want to log?
Just goes to show, there is no boundary that some government agency won't want to cross to invade your privacy.
Re:Window Dressing (Score:2, Interesting)
Interpret Facebook's statements literally and narrowly. They haven't gone to court. They said nothing about a National Security Letter, or similar.
So does the FBI get the bill? (Score:4, Interesting)
Why should FB have to pay 25 people a year to do the government's dirty work? Companies should be able to submit a research bill to the government for these kinds of requests. There's no better check on power than a budget.
Re:"that agency" (Score:2, Interesting)
I'd be interested to know which one...
That interest, is, in fact, a criminal offense.
CIA, FBI, DHS, [redacted]?
The NSA used to be called "No Such Agency". Maybe knowledge of the agency, itself, is secret.
"We are from the government. Give us your data!"
"Uh, which agency . . . ?"
"That's secret."
"Well, how do I find out about the agency . . . ?"
"You need a security clearance."
"And how do I get one . . . ?"
"That's secret."
. . . etc. . . .