The heads of Facebook, Microsoft and Google are requesting permission from the Obama administration to disclose information about requests for users’ data in a move to reassure customers that the authorities cannot indiscriminately monitor their communications.
Internet companies have maintained that the US government did not have direct access to their systems and Google for one is seeking to show that their compliance with these requests falls far short of the claims currently being made.
If it came to a choice of believing the heads of (rival) internet companies or the government then it’s a no-brainer. As they say, you can easily tell if a politician is lying…their lips move.