Technology
In its latest transparency report released on Monday, Apple claimed sharing of users’ information with the U.S. law enforcement agencies in 80 percent of requests compared to 50 percent data sharing cases with the U.K. authorities. The iPhone maker also published the number of requests it received from different countries, which demanded access to either users’ device information or users’ account details.
The latest report shows that Apple complies with the U.S.’s data demands in a greater degree compared to a global average of approximately 60 percent, writes the BBC. Security analysts described the latest revelations as “deeply frustrating” for law enforcement agencies.
Apple’s report comes a day after Blackberry's chief executive John Chen remarked that his company would cooperate with law enforcement bodies but at the same time, secure citizens’ privacy against “government abuse.”
Apple’s figures assume greater significance considering the company’s recent faceoff with the F.B.I. over hacking a locked iPhone, writes the Guardian. The number of hack requests, particularly from the U.S and the U.K. security agencies, has seen a steady rise in the past few years, crossing the 300-mark annually by each of the two countries alone. It’s a routine exercise by internet companies like Google, Yahoo, Twitter, Facebook and others to publish transparency reports “in the post-Snowden era.”
