Microsoft Leaks Aussies Personal Data to Government
Microsoft admitted leaking private information among its Aussie users to the Australian government as revealed by their transparency report, AAP reports.
According to the transparency report, Microsoft had given Australian government access to 1,462 accounts between January and June. The government made 1,219 and Microsoft granted 1,050 or 86 per cent of these requests. Data accessed by the government include email addresses, names, locations and Internet protocol or IP addresses.
The transparency report made public by Microsoft did not include information whether users' personal emails, private documents and photographs were also accessed by the government.
There were six requests by the government rejected by Microsoft, citing failure to meet legal requirements as grounds for denial of access.
There were also 163 requests which were not found from Microsoft's database.
The transparency report was the second report made public by Microsoft, following a similar report in 2012 when the company revealed 2,238 requests from the government.
Microsoft did not confirm the number of Australian users it has in their database, but they assured users that Microsoft "place a premium on respecting and protecting" their privacy.
"At the same time, Microsoft recognises that law enforcement plays a critically important role in keeping our users and our technology safe and free from abuse or exploitation," as stated in the company's transparency report.
The issue about the government accessing users' private information was sparked by whistleblower Edward Snowden, revealing how the U.S. National Security Agency accessed users' sensitive information.
In total, there were already 64 governments which made 37,000 requests to release information from 67, 000 Microsoft users. More than 70 per cent of these requests came from U.S., U.K., France, Germany and Turkey.
Microsoft handed 80 per cent of these requests to the requesting government. The company emphasised that there were only one in fifty requests which contained sensitive user information which usually involves criminal investigations and "imminent emergencies."
In an official statement from Microsoft's Web site, the company assured users that there were only one in every 10,000 users whom accounts were involved because of the governments' request.
Meanwhile, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) admitted that it requested data from Facebook but refuse to give out the exact number and reasons for the admitted request.