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Microsoft exec: Targeting of Americans' records 'routine'

Microsoft Secret Surveillance
Posted at 12:19 PM, Jun 30, 2021
and last updated 2021-06-30 12:19:52-04

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal law enforcement agencies secretly seek the data of Microsoft customers thousands of times a year.

That's according to congressional testimony being given Wednesday by a senior executive at the technology company.

Tom Burt, Microsoft’s corporate vice president for customer security and trust, told the House Judiciary Committee that federal law enforcement has been presenting the company with between 2,400 to 3,500 secrecy orders a year.

The relationship between law enforcement and Big Tech has attracted fresh scrutiny in recent weeks with the revelation that federal prosecutors obtained phone records belonging not only to journalists but also to members of Congress and their staffers.