Twitter transparency report shows growing government demand for data

Twitter said that the U.S. government continues to make the most requests for information about the social network’s subscribers in a growing pursuit of data that has sparked protest by Internet firms.

In the first six months of the year, Twitter said federal authorities made 902 requests for user information, targeting 1,319 specific user accounts. That is up significantly from the same period last year when it requested information about 815 users, according to the company’s Transparency Report. The U.S. government comprised 78 percent of all requests for user data. The company didn’t disclose details of those requests, which ranged from a local sheriff's office seeking information to help in a kidnapping investigation to demands from national security officials. The transparency report does not include data on requests authorized under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.