Apple says subpoenas must now be limited to just 25 pieces of information - such as email addresses or phone numbers - after Trump administration was revealed to have requested 109 identifiers on congressmen during DoJ leak probe
Apple officials announced on Friday that they are limiting how much information they will provide federal prosecutors when they are served a subpoena.
The Cupertino, California-based company said it has instituted a limit of 25 'identifiers' such as email addresses and phone numbers per subpoena.
Apple made the announcement after the United States Department of Justice subpoenaed the company for information on Democratic lawmakers under former President Donald Trump.
That sparked outrage after it was revealed the secret request - which saw Apple hit with a gag order - had targeted representatives Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell to try and identify the source of embarrassing leaks about the Trump administration.
The subpoena came in February 2018 and asked for information on 109 identifiers, including 73 phone numbers and 36 email addresses, but officials said they did not release any emails or pictures to prosecutors.
Apple, a Cupertino, California-based company, announced on Friday it would limit how much information it would provide prosecutors per subpoena
The announcement came after it was revealed the Department of Justice subpoenaed the company in 2018 for information on Democratic lawmakers Adam Schiff (left) and Eric Swalwell (right)
The New York Times on Thursday reported that federal prosecutors subpoenaed Apple and other companies as part of an investigation searching for the sources behind news media reports about contacts between Trump's associates and Russia.
The investigation targeted at least two Democrats on the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, aides and family members, including one minor, according to The New York Times.
'The subpoena provided no information on the nature of the investigation and it would have been virtually impossible for Apple to understand the
In a statement to DailyMail.com, Apple officials said the subpoena 'provided no information on the nature of the investigation' after the company unknowingly handed over the data, relating to Democratic House members Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell.
'We regularly challenge warrants, subpoenas and nondisclosure orders, and have made it our policy to inform affected customers about them just as soon as possible,' a spokesman said.
The subpoenas were made under former President Donald Trump as he investigated leaks
The Department of Justice is now investigating its efforts to seize the communications data or lawmakers and journalists
The company said that the subpoena was issued by a federal grand jury and included a nondisclosure order signed by a federal magistrate judge.
'[The subpoena] provided no information on the nature of the investigation and it would have been virtually impossible for Apple to understand the intent of the desired information without digging through users' accounts,' the spokesperson said.
The company released only basic 'account subscriber information' such as names, addresses, email addresses and telephone numbers, as well as connection logs and IP addresses. It did not provide any context, such as emails or subscribers or to whom or when any messages of any kind were sent.
Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz said on Friday he will investigate the department's efforts under Trump to seize the communications data of lawmakers and members of the news media.
Apple receives an average of 250 data requests from law enforcement agencies every week, the Times reported.
The tech giant announced its updated disclosure policy after Microsoft revealed it too had been subpoenaed by the Trump-led Justice Department.
Microsoft said in a statement to The New York Times that the company received a subpoena in 2017 related to a personal email account, and later learned the person was a congressional staffer. That staffer has not been identified.
Like Apple, Microsoft was under a gag order to keep the subpoena a secret and recently notified the customer that their data had been handed over after the gag order expired, the outlet reported.
A Microsoft spokesperson confirmed the news in a statement to DailyMail.com.
'In 2017 Microsoft received a subpoena related to a personal email account. As we've said before, we believe customers have a constitutional right to know when the government requests their email or documents, and we have a right to tell them,' the statement to DailyMail.com reads.
'In this case, we were prevented from notifying the customer for more than two years because of a gag order. As soon as the gag order expired, we notified the customer who told us they were a congressional staffer.'
The Microsoft spokesperson said the company then provided a briefing to the representative's staff following that notice.
'We will continue to aggressively seek reform that imposes reasonable limits on government secrecy in cases like this,' the statement reads.
Donald Trump's Justice Department secretly subpoenaed Microsoft to access a congressional staffer's email account in a bid to expose the leakers of classified information to the press. Pictured: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella
Like Apple, Microsoft was under a gag order to keep the subpoena a secret and recently notified the customer that their data had been handed over
Justice Department prosecutors seized metadata records from Apple for accounts belonging to Rep. Adam Schiff, pictured, and other members of the House Intelligence Committee
Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell, pictured, revealed he also had data from their Apple devices secretly seized by the Trump administration
Trump and his administration were infuriated after detailed conversations between his aides and the Russian ambassador to the US were leaked shortly after he took office in January 2017.
The new revelations show the extent of former President Donald Trump's obsession over such leaks and the extraordinary lengths his administration would go through to investigate them.
His administration's probe was started under former Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Sessions' successor Bill Barr ordered the probe continue well into 2020, after accusing his own investigators of deliberately dragging their feet over the investigation.
Apple revealed in a statement to DailyMail.com that the subpoena it received had 'provided no information on the nature of the investigation' after the company unknowingly handed over data relating to Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell - two of Trump's political nemeses.
'We regularly challenge warrants, subpoenas and nondisclosure orders and have made it our policy to inform affected customers of governmental requests about them just as soon as possible,' a spokesperson for Apple told DailyMail.com.
The company said that the subpoena was issued by a federal grand jury and included a nondisclosure order signed by a federal magistrate judge.
'[The subpoena] provided no information on the nature of the investigation and it would have been virtually impossible for Apple to understand the intent of the desired information without digging through users' accounts,' the spokesperson said.
'Consistent with the request, Apple limited the information it provided to account subscriber information and did not provide any content such as emails or pictures.'
Apple received the federal grand jury subpoena seeking 'customer or subscriber account information' that came with the nondisclosure order on February 6, 2018.
Prosecutors sought metadata relating to a total of 73 phone numbers and 36 email addresses, in a large and seemingly random request similar to others that tech giants, including Apple, frequently receive.
Democrats want former Attorney General Bill Barr to testify about federal prosecutors subpoenaing Apple for information on Reps. Eric Swalwell and Adam Schiff
Democrats also want former Attorney General Jeff Sessions to testify
The revelations show the extent of Trump's obsession over leaks and the extraordinary lengths his administration would go through to investigate them
The gag order was extended three times under the Trump administration but was not renewed by the Biden administration's Justice Department. The company ultimately notified the customers who were affected on May 5.
The House Intelligence Committee then contacted Apple and the company confirmed that it had received the subpoena and directed the lawmakers to contact the Justice Department.
The tech giant has recently addressed how it responds to such broad-scope subpoenas and has started to limit its legal requests to just 25 identifiers. When no gag order is in place, Apple typically immediately informs customers of subpoenas.
The New York Times noted that Apple, at the time, received an average of 250 data requests each week from U.S. law enforcement agencies. Now, Apple receives thousands of such requests each week.
