Verizon says it will publish data on numbers of law enforcement requests it got this year

WASHINGTON – Verizon Communications Inc. says it will publish information on the number of requests for customer records it received from law enforcement agencies this year.

The announcement Thursday from the country’s largest cellphone carrier comes as debate over data-gathering by the National Security Agency intensifies in Washington. The NSA’s collection of hundreds of millions of Americans’ phone records under secret court order was revealed in June in documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

Verizon says it will publish its report online early next year and update it twice a year.

A presidential advisory panel this week recommended sweeping changes to the surveillance programs. Those include limiting the bulk collection of phone records by stripping the NSA of its ability to store that data in its own facilities.