Microsoft, in conjunction with releasing transparency figures for the year's first half, has launched the Transparency Hub, which would be keeping all such reports in one place.
Microsoft's Transparency Hub is similar to Google's Transparency Site, bringing together and revealing data on demands by law enforcement agencies and governments for data.
Microsoft is also showing the number of requests to take down content made by governments and through the "right to be forgotten" laws in Europe for the first time. In addition, through the Transparency Hub, Microsoft is showing how the company is putting up a resistance against efforts made by governments and law enforcement agencies to acquire customer data to the full extent of laws, whether in the United States or in other countries.
According to Microsoft, the company received 35,228 requests from law enforcement agencies for customer data over the first half of the year, which is a 14 percent increase from the 31,002 requests that Microsoft received in the second half of 2014. Almost three-quarters, or 72.7 percent, of the requests came from the United States, United Kingdom, France, Turkey and Germany.
Of all the cases, only 3 percent has resulted to the disclosure of content that was created, stored or shared by customers through Microsoft's services. The company added that it does not disclose content by customers without a warrant or court order.
Microsoft noted that the number of rejected requests for failing to meet the legal requirements totaled 4,383 requests, which is 12 percent of the total received requests. The number is almost double compared to the second half of 2014, when Microsoft rejected a total of 2,342 requests for the same reason.
As for requests for the removal of content, the requests were divided into three categories, namely government requests, copyright removal and requests under the "right to be forgotten" law.
According to Microsoft, it received 186 government requests to take down content from MSN, OneDrive and Bing, 165 of which came from China. That is the same number of requests that Microsoft agreed to do. The company agreed to 92 percent of almost 25 million takedown requests for copyright infringement, as well as to half of the 10,337 requests under the "right to be forgotten" law.
Microsoft also said that it expects its Transparency Hub to evolve as more reports related to the issue are gathered, with the company seeking to provide customers with a clearer understanding on Microsoft's efforts on transparency.
