European legislators who had convened at a hearing in Brussels to learn more about ongoing U.S. digital dragnet operations were instead treated to news of their own governments’ snooping habits. According to Facebook representative Richard Allan, the social media company had “received 8,500 requests from the European Union affecting 10,000 user accounts during the first six months of this year”. 

During a European Parliament civil liberties committee hearing in Brussels on Monday, legislators convened to learn more about ongoing U.S. digital dragnet operations, but were instead treated to news of their own governments’ snooping habits.