In the bid for a future Nobel Peace Prize nomination and in keeping with the platform’s core commitment to transparency, reaction .GIFs and p0rn of the chic domestic interiors and sexy kinds, Tumblr have resolved to publish bi-annual Law Enforcement Transparency Reports detailing in cute pie chart form all requests for user information submitted by international government agencies in the past year.
In a series of blog posts aptly titled ‘Introducing Tumblr’s Calendar Year 2013 Law Enforcement Transparency Report’, Tumblr detail in simple, #rebloggable terms how, when, and why government bodies requested information in 2013, as well as how the site responded to those requests in light of recent revelations surrounding the contentious, clandestine electronic surveillance conducted by agencies such as the NSA and FBI.
Requests from governments apparently fall under three umbrella categories: the first and second being to subpoena evidence for criminal prosecution for cyber-harassment or hacking where a warrant is issued; the third, to intervene in the case of a medical emergency or a situation where the interest in protecting the IRL public outweighs the interest in providing written notice.
Government requests are then mediated using the site’s Law Enforcement guidelines, which protect users from unlawful requests operating outside their Fourth Amendment rights. Should a request be made for your information, your IP address or the content you [re]produce, Tumblr promise to let you know in writing and, should they see fit, to challenge that request on legal grounds; failing that, it’s then within your rights to take the matter to court. If the request is accompanied by a non-disclosure order, then, sorry/not sorry, but no dice – you’ll remain none the wiser.
In 2013, Tumblr says it received 462 requests from government agencies for information corresponding to 529 URLs. Tumblr provided information in response to 76% of those requests concerning 428 blogs – which apparently constitutes approximately 0.00026% of all the cool blogs on Tumblr.
In good news for antipodean Tumblrers, the site received 73 requests for user information from 11 foreign countries, chiefly amongst them Australia. In response to the 11 requests submitted by Australian government agencies, Tumblr refused to produce any information, because, like you, they value your right to repurpose original creative content without proper accreditation in private.
