Microsoft to warn users about government spying!

US company reportedly kept quiet after thousands of email accounts were compromised in 2011

Microsoft has said it will tell customers if they are being targeted by government spies after it was reported that thousands of Hotmail accounts had been hacked by the Chinese government.

Users of Outlook email and other services will be alerted by the company with a special message saying that details may have been compromised by state-sponsored attackers, Microsoft said.

The move, which follows other tech companies including Facebook andTwitter this year, comes amid growing concerns about governments spying on individuals by accessing their email and social media accounts.

However, it could put Microsoft at odds with the British government, which has said that telling internet users about attempts to access their communications could jeopardise investigations. It emerged this week that employees at Twitter and other internet groups could face up to two years in prison if they tip off customers about state monitoring.

A "disclosure provision" in the draft Investigatory Powers Bill will make it illegal for companies to tell the subject of a surveillance exercise that requests for their data have been made, without express permission. Although the wording of the bill specifically mentions data requests, while Microsoft's new policy covers attacks, governments have become increasingly frustrated at tech companies not co-operating with surveillance attempts.