Apple Shares More Data with US in First Half of 2017

Apple received 4,479 requests during the first half of 2017 for device-based data, such as which of its customers were tied to which devices, and provided the information 80% of the time when US government agencies made the request, according to the company's transparency report released this week.

While the number of requests fell to 4,822 during the same period last year, the percentage of the fulfilled requests rose from 78%, according to Apple's 2016 transparency report.

Meanwhile, US account-based requests, which generally involved cases where law enforcement agencies want information about the fraudulent use of Apple accounts, rose to 1,692 requests during the first half of the year – up from 1,363 requests last year, the 2017 and 2016 reports state. However, in both time periods, the percentage of requests fulfilled remained at 84%.

Apple fulfilled a higher percentage of device-based and account-based data requests in the first half of this year, compared with the level it shared on a worldwide basis, according to the 2017 report. On a global basis, 77% of device-based data requests were fulfilled and 80% of account-based data requests.

Read more about Apple's 2017 first half transparency report here.