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Government Surveillance Is On The Rise, Google Reports

Typical inquiries include the request to remove content that is in violation of copyright or local laws.The top reason for court orders issued to Google are defamation, and privacy and security.

The USA comes in first in government snooping with a total of 7,969 user data requests from January to June 2012. Google’s transparency report details takedown request from government agencies or organizations worldwide, CBS reports. Typical inquiries include the request to remove content that is in violation of copyright or local laws.The top reason for court orders issued to Google are defamation, and privacy and security.  Google complied fully or at least in some degree with 90% of these U.S. government requests. During the previous Google transparency reporting period, the U.S. government requested access to 12,243 user accounts.

“This is the sixth time we’ve released this data, and one trend has become clear: Government surveillance is on the rise. Google graphs show government demands for user data have increased steadily since we first launched the Transparency Report. In the first half of 2012, there were 20,938 inquiries from government entities around the world. Those requests were for information about 34,614 accounts.”

When Google launched its transparency report in 2010 the number of requests between July to Dec. 2009 was 12,539.

Google’s report gives insight into its own data and possible trends overall, but does not paint a complete picture of how information might change hands between private companies and government agencies around the world.

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