Our commitment to customer privacy doesn’t stop because of a government information request.

Government information requests are a consequence of doing business in the digital age. We believe in being as transparent as the law allows about what information is requested from us. In addition, Apple has never worked with any government agency from any country to create a “back door” in any of our products or services. We have also never allowed any government access to our servers. And we never will.

What we’re most commonly asked for and how we respond.

The most common requests we receive for information come from law enforcement in the form of either a Device Request or an Account Request. Our legal team carefully reviews each request, ensuring it is accompanied by valid legal process. All content requests require a search warrant. Only a small fraction of requests from law enforcement seek content such as emails, photos, and other content stored on users’ iCloud or iTunes account. National security-related requests are not considered Device Requests or Account Requests and are reported in a separate category altogether.

On devices running iOS 8.0 and later versions, your personal data such as photos, messages (including attachments), email, contacts, call history, iTunes content, notes, and reminders is placed under the protection of your passcode. For all devices running iOS 8.0 and later versions, Apple will not perform iOS data extractions in response to government search warrants because the files to be extracted are protected by an encryption key that is tied to the user's passcode, which Apple does not possess.

Information Requests

Device Requests

94% law enforcement seeking device-related customer data.

Account Requests

6% law enforcement seeking account-related information.

Read Apple’s transparency reports

Read Apple's guidelines for law enforcement requests

US EMEIA Japan and APAC

Device Requests

The vast majority of the requests Apple receives from law enforcement come from an agency working on behalf of a customer who has requested assistance locating a stolen device. We encourage any customer who suspects their device is stolen to contact their respective law enforcement agency.

Account Requests

Responding to an Account Request most often involves providing information about a customer’s iTunes or iCloud account. If we are legally compelled to divulge any information for an Account Request, we provide notice to the customer when allowed and deliver the narrowest set of information possible in response.

less than

0.00571%

of customers had data disclosed due to government information requests.

National Security Orders from the U.S. government.

A tiny percentage of our millions of accounts is affected by national security-related requests. In the last six months of 2014, we received between 250 and 499 of these requests. Though we would like to be more specific, by law this is the most precise information we are currently allowed to disclose.

Five stars from the Electronic Frontier Foundation

In its latest “Who Has Your Back?” report, the E.F.F. awarded Apple 5 out of 5 stars for our commitment to standing with our customers when the government seeks access to their data.

We’re working for greater transparency and protections on behalf of our customers.

We publish all request data permitted by law, but we believe our customers deserve to know more about what their governments and law enforcement agencies are requesting. We are actively engaged with the White House, as well as policymakers and government regulators around the world, to allow for more accurate and complete disclosures and reforms to overreaching surveillance laws and practices.

Supporting the fight for more accurate reporting

On November 5, 2013, Apple filed an amicus curiae motion in the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. The motion requested that Apple and its competitors be allowed to publicly report more precise data on national security-related requests.
Read the full brief

Read the full letter included with the brief
Fighting against extraterritorial warrants

Apple filed an amicus curiae brief on June 13, 2014, challenging the notion that a U.S. search warrant requires a company to produce customer data stored outside the U.S. without government agencies adhering to the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty process.
Read the full brief

Apple filed an additional amicus brief on December 15, 2014 in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals further supporting its position that requiring a U.S. company to produce data about a non-U.S. citizen when the data is held by a foreign subsidiary and stored in a foreign location raises important conflicts of laws.

Read the full brief