Facebook officials admitted on Friday that they had resisted court orders asking them to disclose some of the personal information of their users.
At least 381 accounts of Facebook users were included in the order released by an unnamed New York court. Sixty-two of these 381 accounts were charged with disability fraud. The social networking giant admitted that they were given a gag order about the matter to prevent them from discussing more details and notify the people involved in the court order.
CNET also reported that Facebook allowed the court access to photos, messages, and other personal information for an indefinite amount of time. The company was to recover this data from the government, since keeping the information broke laws outlined in the Fourth Amendment.
"This unprecedented request is by far the largest we've ever received - by a magnitude of more than ten - and we have argued that it was unconstitutional from the start," Facebook's deputy general counsel Chris Sonderby wrote in a blog post.
This revelation sparked heavy debate on privacy in the digital age. Today, most of an individual's data can be accessed through his or her online footprints - information that can quickly be found on social media. Last week, the Supreme Court rejected a motion requesting that agencies have the right to search mobile phones without a warrant. The Supreme Court cited the Fourth Amendment, explaining that mobile phones are personal and private properties.
The social media giant revealed that since July to December 2013, they have dealt with at least 12,598 requests from different law enforcement agencies to disclose information about 18,715 accounts.
Facebook was not the only corporation pressured by the government to disclose information about their users. Other companies such as Apple and Google were also required to allow access to data through subpoenas and warrants given by the government.
