Facebook urges US government to allow disclosure of security requests

Facebook Inc on Tuesday urged the U.S. government to allow Internet companies to reveal the size and scope of the national security information requests they receive, echoing statements made by Google Inc and Microsoft Corp.

Facebook's statement came hours after Google publicly asked the U.S. Department of Justice that it be allowed to disclose the full extent of the secret requests the company receives in order to demonstrate that Google turns over a relatively limited amount of user data.

"We would welcome the opportunity to provide a transparency report that allows us to share with those who use Facebook around the world a complete picture of the government requests we receive, and how we respond," Facebook said in an e-mailed statement.

"We urge the United States government to help make that possible by allowing companies to include information about the size and scope of national security requests we receive."

Facebook, Google and Microsoft are among nine Internet companies that have come under scrutiny following disclosures in The Guardian and Washington Post newspapers of their roles in a National Security Agency data collection program named PRISM.

© Thomson Reuters 2013