Google today released its latest transparency report with details about government requests for user data, which the search giant said have increased by more than 100 percent since it started releasing these reports in 2010.
'This comes as usage of our services continues to grow, but also as more governments have made requests than ever before,' Google said in a blog post. 'And these numbers only include the requests we're allowed to publish.'
Google and its rivals are not allowed to publish specific details about national security-related requests. In the wake of the Edward Snowden leaks, Google and others pushed the government for permission to publish this data. Thus far, the feds have only allowed for data to be published in ranges of 1,000 but Google today reiterated that it believes it should be able to publish more accurate data.
'Our promise to you is to continue to make this report robust, to defend your information from overly broad government requests, and to push for greater transparency around the world,' Google said.
Today's report, meanwhile, covers data requests made in the first six months of 2013. In total, Google fielded 25,879 requests for user data from law enforcement officials around the world. U.S. officials accounted for 10,918 of those requests, 83 percent of which were honored.
This report - the search giant's eighth - includes additional information about legal process for U.S. criminal requests: breaking out emergency disclosures, wiretap orders, pen register orders, and other court orders. About 68 percent of U.S. requests were subpoenas, 22 percent were warrants, 6 percent were other court orders, 2 percent were pen register orders, and 1 percent were emergency disclosure requests.
Coming in at No. 2 was India with 2,691 requests, followed by Germany with 2,311 and France with 2,011. The U.K. and Brazil also had about 1,200.
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