Google reveals US government leads way in private data requests

Google has received a record number of requests from 26 developed countries to reveal private information about internet users Private information about Google users was demanded by governments or police a total of 14,201 times in 26 developed countries in the last six months of last year, according to figures released for the first time by the internet giant on Monday. In an effort to highlight the amount of online censorship that exists, Google disclosed that it had received more requests from the United States than anywhere else – and that it complied with anywhere from three-quarters to more than 90% of the requests depending on which country they were made in. Google received a record 4,601 requests from the US to disclose internet users’ private data in the six months to December – a 28% increase year-on-year. The California-based company said it fully or partially complied with 94% of user data orders from the US and 72% of those from the UK. According to Google’s figures, the UK made 1,162 user data requests in the second half of last year, making it the fourth-top country for the orders, behind India, Brazil and the US. Google began releasing its half-yearly Transparency Report in April 2010 as a way to highlight state censorship of the internet. “For the first time, we’re disclosing the reasons behind requests for content removal and the percentages of user data requests we comply with, in whole or in part,” a Google spokesman said. “By moving to a country-by-country model, users can more easily see trends upward or downward, and some annotations that provide background for the numbers released. We are releasing these numbers because we believe that it is important for our users to have more information about these types of government requests.” However, Google also revealed that it complied with a request to block access to 43 YouTube videos in Thailand because they were “mocking or criticising” the king, Bhumibol Adulyadej, in violation of the country’s strict laws. The figures show that Brazil still leads the way in requesting that Google removes content from its services, with 263 orders, ahead of South Korea, Germany, Libya and India. The UK’s Office of Fair Trading requested the removal of 93,360 fraudulent Google Adwords linked to scams over the period. The majority of content removal requests from the US arise from court orders over defamation. According to the figures , six US court orders resulted in the removal of 1,110 items from the Google Groups forums over the defamation of a man and his family. Google also, for the first time, revealed that it had received no content removal requests from Chinese authorities in the latter part of 2010. Google began redirecting Chinese users to its uncensored Hong Kong site in June 2010 amid allegations of state spying. Hong Kong increased its demands for user data by 80% in the six-month period, to 90. Google complied with 59% of them. Google Data protection Search engines Internet Digital media Josh Halliday guardian.co.uk

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