Government requests user data from Microsoft and Facebook

Employees at Microsoft and Facebook say they receive thousands of request for user data from the U.S. government.

Those requests came in the second half of 2012.

Facebook says it had between 9,000 and 10,000 requests that targeted up to 19,000 accounts. Microsoft says it received between 6,000 and 7,000 requests affecting 32,000 accounts.

An attorney who works for Facebook says its requests include tracking of federal fugitives, local crimes and terrorist threats.