Tech Companies, Bristling, Concede to Federal Surveillance Program

Details Of Tech Companies' Agreements With Government Revealed
FOREST CITY, NC - APRIL 19: Tom Furlong, Vice President of Site Operations at Facebook, shows a server tray during a tour of the new Facebook Data Center on April 19, 2012 in Forest City, North Carolina. The company began construction on the facility in November 2010 and went live today, serving the 845 million Facebook users worldwide. (Photo by Rainier Ehrhardt/Getty Images)
FOREST CITY, NC - APRIL 19: Tom Furlong, Vice President of Site Operations at Facebook, shows a server tray during a tour of the new Facebook Data Center on April 19, 2012 in Forest City, North Carolina. The company began construction on the facility in November 2010 and went live today, serving the 845 million Facebook users worldwide. (Photo by Rainier Ehrhardt/Getty Images)

When government officials came to Silicon Valley to demand easier ways for the world's largest Internet companies to turn over user data as part of a secret surveillance program, the companies bristled. In the end, though, many cooperated at least a bit.

Twitter declined to make it easier for the government. But other companies were more compliant, according to people briefed on the negotiations. They opened discussions with national security officials about developing technical methods to more efficiently and securely share the personal data of foreign users in response to lawful government requests. And in some cases, they changed their computer systems to do so.

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