Google has released its latest Transparency Report, covering the first six months of the year, and the trend continues: The numbers of government requests for user information are going nowhere but up. Since the last report, they’ve risen 15 percent worldwide, and 19 percent in the United States. Since 2010, when Google published its first report, U.S. requests have shot up 250 percent.
The U.S. led the way with 12,539 law enforcement and court requests in the first half of 2014. Germany and France each had more than 3,000 requests, while India had nearly 3,000. Other countries with more than 1,000 requests were Italy, Singapore and the U.K.
As it did with the release of its last report, Google addressed the revelations about mass government spying, and said they haven’t seemed to make much of a difference in terms of what the governments continue to seek.
“This increase in government demands comes against a backdrop of ongoing revelations about government surveillance programs. Despite these revelations, we have seen some countries expand their surveillance authorities in an attempt to reach service providers outside their borders. Others are considering similar measures,” writes Richard Salgado, Google’s legal director, Law Enforcement and Information Security.
In the light of the above, Salgado reiterated Google’s support of the Senate’s USA Freedom Act, which would rein in NSA spying and allow companies such as Google to be more transparent about what information they’re turning over to the government. (Google and other Internet giants have had to deal with reports that the government has “backdoor” access to user info, something the companies deny.)
Salgado also repeated Google’s call for the updating of ECPA, or the Electronic Communications Privacy Act. Tech companies have been pushing for changes that include requiring warrants when governments ask Internet companies for electronic communications. Currently, ECPA allows for the government to access communications that are older than 180 days.
“Congress has a chance to pass historic legislation that will help restore trust that has been lost. We urge them to seize upon this opportunity,” Salgado writes.
Photo by Patrick Tehan/Mercury News archives
