That’s one of the issues UK Prime Minister David Cameron and US President Barack Obama will address when they meet Friday, according to a report.

Cameron and Obama will discuss the UK’s desire to access user data from US-based tech companies, such as Facebook and Twitter, to aid in its law enforcement strategy, The Guardian reported, citing people who claim to have knowledge of the anticipated discussions.

According to those sources, Cameron will demand that US companies store data on users and make it accessible to UK intelligence agencies to keep the country’s citizens “safe.” That accessibility would involve a new legal framework that has yet to be worked out. One government source told the Guardian that while sites like Facebook and Twitter do cooperate to some degree, the UK would like to see that cooperation increased.

Neither Facebook nor Twitter responded to a request for comment.

The prime minister’s demand could ignite even more controversy over data accessibility. Since former US National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden leaked secret documents to the press, the world has been overwhelmed with information on the extent to which the US government goes to access user data.

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http://www.cnet.com/news/uk-to-seek-obamas-help-in-accessing-user-data-from-us-firms/

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