Look I'm not a "big conspiracy guy", but how does knowing the number of user data requests create any additional transparency?
For all we know, there's only been one request, but maybe that request is something like: "Give us a plaintext copy of each email sent and received for all of your users for the last 10 years"
The only thing that will create transparency is to eliminate secret orders all together. That's what these guys should be arguing and I find it strange that they are not. Instead they are all fixated on just being able to show how many requests they've complied with and not what those requests were actually for.
There's nothing "conspiracy" about the NSA being able to access anyone's data on Yahoo's servers without needing a warrant. It's actually expected at this point.
What they're trying to achieve by making a public stink about this is good PR. The real fight -if there is actually a real fight between the tech giants and the government- will happen behind closed doors.
I think it's safe to assume they've requested pretty much everything for each request. And while just sharing the number of requests seems benign, you can see a disproportionate number of requests coming from certain countries in the report FB published (https://www.facebook.com/about/government_requests). Although, I do wish these reports had a 'request per 100,000 users' column.
And another request: "On an ongoing basis, give us a plaintext copy of each email sent and received for all of your users, within 10 seconds of it being sent or received".
For all we know, there's only been one request, but maybe that request is something like: "Give us a plaintext copy of each email sent and received for all of your users for the last 10 years"
The only thing that will create transparency is to eliminate secret orders all together. That's what these guys should be arguing and I find it strange that they are not. Instead they are all fixated on just being able to show how many requests they've complied with and not what those requests were actually for.