Microsoft charged FBI for user data: SEA

The SEA revealed hacked emails and invoices documenting months of transactions between Microsoft's Global Criminal Compliance team and the FBI's Digital Intercept Technology Unit (DITU).

WASHINGTON: Hactivist group, Syrian Electronic Army (SEA), has reportedly revealed documents indicating how much software maker Microsoft was charging a secret FBI division to legally collect and view customer data.

The SEA revealed hacked emails and invoices documenting months of transactions between Microsoft's Global Criminal Compliance team and the FBI's Digital Intercept Technology Unit (DITU).

According to The Verge, it was found that every time the DITU requested customer information, Microsoft charged anywhere from $50 to $200 for the transaction.

The most recent invoice for November 2013 totaled to a whopping $281,000.

Although, none of the two parties confirmed the validity of the documents, a Microsoft spokesperson said that it was nothing unusual as under the US law, companies could seek reimbursement for costs associated with complying with valid legal orders for customer data.

The DITU allegedly requested information from Microsoft hundreds of times a month, the report added.