In the ongoing brouhaha over the National Security Agency’s data-collecting, Verizon announced last night that it will publish information about how many requests it received from various law enforcement agencies this year for customer records.

The reports will be ready for the public early next year online, and Verizon will update it twice a year from then on, reports the Associated Press. Included in the reports will be how many requests Verizon received from law enforcement in criminal cases.

It’ll then break that down into which requests included subpoenas, court orders and warrants, as well as other details about the requests.

“The aim of our transparency report is to keep our customers informed about government requests for their data and how we respond to those requests,” Randal Milch, Verizon’s executive vice president for public policy, said in a statement.

Verizon joins other big cheeses in the communications world, including Internet giants Google, Microsoft, Apple, Facebook and Yahoo, which also issue reports from time to time about what the authorities are looking for concerning personal data.

This info is limited to your run-of-the-mill issues — none of those reports include orders sent through the government’s secret court, which works under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to fight terrorism

AT&T recently said it didn’t have to disclose to shareholders what it’s done with customers’ data, so will it be joining in the report fun now that Verizon is at the party?

“While we have disclosed a lot of information in this area, we are always exploring ways to do more,” an AT&T spokesman said when asked that very question.

Verizon to publish data on phone records requests [Associated Press]

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