Steven Musil

Apple has published a new set of guidelines regarding how law enforcement agencies and other government entities may request information from the company about user data. The new rules, which were posted to Apple's website, reflect Apple's move toward notifying its customers when it receives law enforcement requests for user data. "Apple will notify its customers when their personal information is being sought in response to legal process except where providing notice is prohibited by the legal process itself, by a court order Apple receives, or by applicable law or where Apple, in its sole discretion, believes that providing notice could create a risk of injury or death to an identifiable individual or group of individuals or in situations where the case relates to child endangerment," the guidelines state. Apple's new rules specify how agencies should file their request and what information they could expect to receive upon the receipt of a valid search warrant. However, the guidelines do not apply to requests made outside the US Apple's local subsidiaries. Apple also said that upon the receipt of a valid wiretap order, it can intercept users' email communications but not their iMessage or FaceTime communications because those communications are encrypted.