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Twitter's New Transparency Report: Governments Still Want Your Data

Nerval's Lobster writes "All your Tweets are belong to us... with a court order. Twitter's second transparency report reinforces what many already know: governments want online user data, and to yank select content from the Internet. Twitter's first two transparency reports cover the entirety of 2012, so there's not a deep historical record to mine for insight. Nonetheless, that year's worth of data shows all types of government inquiry—information requests, removal requests, and copyright notices—either on the increase or holding relatively steady. Governments requested user information from Twitter some 1,009 times in the second half of 2012, up slightly from 849 requests in the first half of that year. Content-removal requests spiked from 6 in the first half of 2012 to 42 in the second. Meanwhile, copyright notices declined a bit, from 3378 in the first half of 2012 to 3268 in the second."

30 comments

  1. Teehee by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    I farted. teehee. #bigwetfarts

    1. Re:Teehee by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's funny people keep trying to trivialize instant short-message communication as pedantic and usefulness.

      Remember 'arab spring': "180 characters is a novel if you're getting shot at"

    2. Re:Teehee by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Arab Spring is a tiny fraction of Twitter. Watch what trends on Twitter some days. It is 99% bull crap. It's usually even more inane than someone really tweeting "I farted. Teehee".

      For example, a sample of current trending topics include:

      ireallydislike
      youremoreattractiveif
      panamaisinfectedbybieberfever
      we<3madonna

    3. Re:Teehee by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Remember 'arab spring':

      That's those people we're fighting in Mali now, isn't it?

    4. Re:Teehee by newcastlejon · · Score: 1

      "180 characters is a novel if you're getting shot at"

      I tried writing my sweetheart a short letter, but I couldn't so I wrote a long one instead.
      Concision is hard.

      --
      If God forks the Universe every time you roll a die, he'd better have a damned good memory.
    5. Re:Teehee by davester666 · · Score: 1

      Circumcision hurts more.

      --
      Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
    6. Re:Teehee by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's those people we're fighting in Mali now, isn't it?

      No, it is not. We are fighting the same muslim prick that have hijacked the Arab Spring revolution. And the 'arab spring' is not over, Egyptian are still fighting the muslim brotherhood overlords.

      How your ignorant comment got modded from 0 to 2 insightful will remain a mystery...

  2. Twitter: Goverments want you data... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    so do our advertisers!

  3. Copyright notices? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How can a tweet infringe copyright? I find it inconceivable that 140 characters could ever do that.

    1. Re:Copyright notices? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Quite easy. It links to something that is copyright infringing.

    2. Re:Copyright notices? by vlm · · Score: 4, Insightful

      How can a tweet infringe copyright? I find it inconceivable that 140 characters could ever do that.

      09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0

      13,256,278,887,989,457,651,018,865,901,401,704,640

      --
      "Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
    3. Re:Copyright notices? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Publishing a crypto key isn't an infringment of copyright.
      The key is not a creative work. It's ineligible for copyright.

    4. Re:Copyright notices? by Desler · · Score: 3, Informative

      Yep, that violates anti-circumvention clauses of the DMCA not copyrights.

    5. Re:Copyright notices? by xstonedogx · · Score: 2

      Youv'e never written poetry, I guess. You can cram a lot into 140 characters.

      But there is no 140 character limit. There is a 140 character per tweet limit. Two tweets is 280 characters. Now we are really talking.

    6. Re:Copyright notices? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      clearly you never
      studied poetry dear sir
      haiku for the win

    7. Re:Copyright notices? by swillden · · Score: 1

      How can a tweet infringe copyright? I find it inconceivable that 140 characters could ever do that.

      I just tweeted the following: "How can a tweet infringe copyright? I find it inconceivable that 140 characters could ever do that."

      Hah! I infringed your copyright. Sue me!

      --
      Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
    8. Re:Copyright notices? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And the judge would throw out the case. Either fair use or de minimis, take your pick.
      And so should happen with any other tweet alleged to be infringing.

    9. Re:Copyright notices? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, if it is a single tweet. However, what if you were tweeting (say) a series of jokes, and I copied every tweet you ever made and passed it off as my own?

  4. Internet Statutes. by gatfirls · · Score: 2

    You know it's coming. Hit post then immediately a popup appears informing you of your eRrest warrant and eNdictment prompting you for your plea.

    1. Re:Internet Statutes. by decipher_saint · · Score: 2

      Don't worry, what with the Cyber War waging you'll be given the option to join a crack eCommando unit; "The Dirty 0xC"

      --
      crazy dynamite monkey
    2. Re:Internet Statutes. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And where is Donald Duck?
      Donald Duck's down at the router with a packet sniffer.

  5. Real life. by gatfirls · · Score: 3, Interesting

    This is the internet so common sense or even real world examples do not apply. If the real world laws were written like laws regarding data/internet you would get 35 years for drug trafficking because you told a friend an address of a house that sells drugs.

  6. Move along nothing to see here by DerekLyons · · Score: 1

    The government (which is usually read "law enforcement" or "the court system") has *always* wanted your data - and via search warrant and/or subpoenas has *always* been able to either get it from third parties or to compel you to hand it over yourself. With increasing amounts of our lives involving the 'net, it should be about as surprising (and panic worthy) as the sun rising in the morning that the government is taking an interest in data located on the 'net.

    As I said in reference to Google's transparency report the other day, the only surprising/interesting thing here is that the number is so small.

  7. American government wants you data... by Weezul · · Score: 1

    "Worldwide, 81 percent of all requests for user data originated in the United States, Twitter said."

    Police state much?

    --
    The Christian religion has been and still is the principal enemy of moral progress in the world. -- Bertrand Russell
  8. Carpe Diem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Twitter has a GOLDEN opportunity.

    Sell members data and record to the USA Gubermint, Department of Homeland Security [sounds like a cheep title in a porno Nazi film] for 1 million dollars US each !

    And, if Department of Homeland Security protests, then up the anti to 1 billion dollars US.

    Hay, Janet Neapolitan, put your stollen money where your pussy should be and say, 'Ah'.

    XD

  9. Shouldn't that be... ( by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "All your Tweet are belong to us"?
    This is Slashdot for crepe's sake. If you can't get an AYB meme right then you ought to have steaming hot grits poured down your pants.

  10. Spying is not the only problem Twitter is ... by 3seas · · Score: 1

    ....faced with.

    I have found that my tweets have been censored. Any tweet I make with a link do not make it into any hash thread included in the tweet.
    It wasn't always like this as there was a time I could and I see people doing it today, so why are my tweets being censored?

    Here is an example and the nature of my tweet that triggered off this censorship. Oddly enough even the White House petition site (where teh death star petition got near 35,000 signers) provides an option to share the petition link with both facebook and twitter, but its like a Neo and Agent Smith first meeting, what good is such an option if I cannot be seen?

    I have wiped my twitter account because of the for what is teh point of being spied on if I cannot defend against?
    The example link and nature of my tweets being censored is > http://wh.gov/EYbi #IRS #taxes #taxpayers

    That Shortened link is provided by the White House petition site so for the long link https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/provide-each-taxpayer-independent-voice-where-taxes-they-pay-are-be-allocated-and-used-all-tax/cxBlXQht?utm_source=wh.gov&utm_medium=shorturl&utm_campaign=shorturl

    So as I said, twitter has more than just government spying issues.

  11. I find this interesting... by logicassasin · · Score: 1

    Google has been revealing (via their own transparency reports) that governments want your searches, email, and whatnot that are stored on their servers. Twitter is telling people that the governments are doing the same. I don't think it'll really hit home until Facebook follows suit. Only then will people really "get it" that the government is mining the details of your online life to do whatever they want with it.

    I said this before on here: Big Brother was made "cool" and the public welcomed it with open arms. In this case, FB, Twitter, and anything else on the internet along with your cellphones and now your televisions.

    --
    Fifty watts per channel, baby cakes.
    1. Re:I find this interesting... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      the government is mining the details of your online life to do whatever they want with it.

      It's possible that this is true, but none of these transparency reports say that.
      This is just the normal justice system at work. Warrants, subpoenas, etc.
      The reports are not about Big Brother surveillance.

  12. please re-read your reply by logicassasin · · Score: 1

    You contradicted yourself.

    --
    Fifty watts per channel, baby cakes.