14 DAY TRIAL // Apple has long been one of the companies opposing to government requests to break into customers’ devices, but it still helps law enforcement with user information whenever the data is stored on its servers.
Based on search warrants, these requests mostly target iCloud information that governments can use for a wide variety of purposes, some of which are related to criminal or terrorist investigations.
In the second half of 2017, Apple received 3,358 requests to extract personal data, with the company complying in 717 of the cases. Data like photos, calendar entries, contacts, email, and even device backups, all of which were stored on iCloud, were offered based on these legal requests.
Apple says in its transparency report (PDF version) that it challenged a total of 224 of the requests it received, and eventually, it offered no data in 600 of the cases.
More than 300,000 stolen or lost devices involved in investigations
Interestingly enough, Apple said it received no less than 29,718 requests from law enforcement in order to provide device information that could help find lost or stolen iPhones. A total of 309,363 devices were said to be targeted by these investigations.
Apple says it has also received requests for user data as part of investigations related to national security, and although the company cannot share any specifics on these, it did reveal that more than 8,000 accounts were targeted following more than 16,000 such orders.
“To date, Apple has not received any orders for bulk data. We report all the national security orders we have received, including orders received under FISA and NSLs, in bands of 250. Though we want to be more specific, this is currently the narrowest range allowed by the government,” it said.
Apple says its next transparency report will also include data on the government requests to take down apps from the App Store.