AT&T said Tuesday that it received demands from government officials to turn over customer data. The company made the announcement in their first-ever transparency report.
AT&T said the U.S. government requested access to content belonging to over 35,000 AT&T users for the first six months of 2013, according to Dallas News. The requests were made under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
The government has made demands for content from other phone companies, The National Journal reported. Verizon was the first major phone company to share information on government's access to customer records, announcing it had turned over similar information about customers before AT&T made their reports.
AT&T said from Jan. 1 to June 30, they received between zero and 999 requests for customer information that affected between 35,000 and 35,999 accounts, according to AFP. This information was categorized as "non-content" data, which could possibly refer to only the customer's identity.
Between 2,000 and 2,999 "national security letters" were sent to AT&T in addition to the previous requests, AFP reported. The letters are referred to as requests from the FBI involving terrorism investigations without a court order. These letters affected between 4,000 and 4,999 accounts.
The government asked for different forms of information from AT&T, Dallas News reported. AT&T turned over communications content including e-mails and texts. The zero to 999 requests for user information included names, locations, and e-mail addresses.
While AT&T and other phone companies have received requests for customer content, Internet companies are looking to disclose more information on user surveillance, according to The National Journal. Google and Facebook have moved for the reveal of more details on government seeking information on users.
Despite the revelation of government surveillance, AT&T stated they will ensure protection of their customer's information and their privacy in compliance with the law, according to AFP.
"Like all companies, we must provide information to government and law enforcement agencies to comply with court orders, subpoenas, lawful discovery requests and other legal requirements," AT&T said. "We ensure that these requests are valid and that our responses comply with the law and our own policies."
