Google has released its latest transparency report, and to a mild surprise, the United States tops the list for requesting the most user data from the search-engine organization.
According to Google, it "regularly" receives requests from courts and governments worldwide to "hand over" user data.
"Government agencies make requests to Google companies seeking information about Google users accounts or products," noted Google. "In this report, we are generally revealing statistics about demands in criminal investigations. In some cases we may not be able to tell if the demand is for a criminal investigation as opposed to some other purpose. In those situations, we try to include the request in these statistics."
In the Google transparency report, the number of requests received from the latest six-month period were highlighted, although certain limitations in disclosing the figures were in place.
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Between January and June 2013, Google received approximately 25,900 requests for a user's data. Google also revealed the percentages that "some data" were produced due to the requests.
The country topping the list for most user data requests was a landslide for the U.S. with 10,918 requests. Google noted the U.S. can request user information legally due to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), National Security Letters (NSLs) and per criminal requests.
For criminal requests, it may pertain to search warrants, court orders or subpoenas for Google accounts for a criminal investigation.
The NSLs are requests authorized by the FBI, which requires U.S. companies to disclose "the name, address, length of service, and local and long distance toll billing records" of a user for the purpose of a national security investigation. NSLs do not require a court order but cannot be used to obtain content from certain Google products such as Gmail, search queries and YouTube videos.
FISA requests require court orders and may see the disclosure of personal information for the purpose of a national security investigation. Google has petitioned the FISA court to disclose the "precise number" of national security requests received, but no development has occurred.
Of the 10,918 user data requests in the U.S., Google disclosed 83 percent of the data requested. In addition, 21,683 users or accounts were specified.
The figure Google provided of U.S. user data requests is large compared to the rest of the countries listed.
India made the second-most user data requests with 2,691; Google produced only 64 percent of data.
Germany ranked third with 2,311 data requests, but 3,079 accounts were specified. Google produced 48 percent of the data for Germany.
France was fourth with 2,481 specific user and accounts specified and 1,011 data requests. Google produced 49 percent of the French requests.
Rounding up the top five is the United Kingdom with 1,274 user data requests, but 1,818 specific accounts. Google disclosed 67 percent of the British users' data.
Dozens of additional countries have requested user data such as Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Portugal, South Korea, Spain, and Russia, to name a few.
The countries Google listed during the six-month period between January and June 2013 requested more than 25,879 of user data.
"Respect for the privacy and security of data you store with Google underpins our approach to complying with these legal requests," stated Google. "When we receive such a request, our team reviews the request to make sure it satisfies legal requirements and Google's policies. Generally speaking, for us to comply, the request must be made in writing, signed by an authorized official of the requesting agency and issued under an appropriate law. If we believe a request is overly broad, we'll seek to narrow it. We notify users about legal demands when appropriate, unless prohibited by law or court order."
Google cautioned that the figures in the transparency report are not 100 percent "comprehensive or accurate."
"For example, we have not included statistics for countries where we've received fewer than 30 requests for user data in criminal cases during the reporting period. Where the numbers of requests are relatively low from a particular country, revealing the statistics could place important investigations at risk and interfere with public safety efforts of the authorities."
Google has also provided users with terms and definitions of the legal process for people living inside and outside the U.S. as well as what actions are required to obtain one's information.
Google's latest transparency report comes more than a week after Apple Inc. published its version.
As Latinos Post reported, Apple revealed it disclosed 88 percent of the U.S. government's request for user data between Jan. 1 and June 30 this year.
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