Governments all over the world want to get their hands on user data from Google for a variety of purposes. Google started tracking the number of these requests in 2010, and has released these numbers in transparency reports every six month. This week, with the search giant’s sixth transparency report, it’s clear to see that these requests are increasing.
You can read Google’s official blog post summarizing the report, or go directly to the user data requests section of the full transparency report. You might also be interested in the government removal requests section of the report.
Just how bad has it gotten? Requests for data from governments have shown a steady increase, from 12,539 when Google began reporting them in 2010 to 20,938 in this week’s report. The number of requests doesn’t quite tell the full story, though, since one “request” can ask for multiple pieces of information. Those 20,938 requests “were for information from about 34,614 accounts,” according to Google.
The trend from governments to request removal of material from Google, on the other hand, looks a little more complicated. Google says that it “was largely flat from 2009 to 2011.” It jumped in this reporting period, however. The search engine’s chart showed 1,048 removal requests for the six-month period ending in December 2011. From January through June 2012, “there were 1,791 requests from government officials around the world to remove 17,746 pieces of content.”
Google’s transparency report includes some nice interactive elements. For example, the table that lists removal requests can be sorted by country, number of requests, percentage of compliance, and more. Not too surprisingly, the United States heads the list for number of court-ordered requests for removal, as well as items requested to be removed – however, the search engine complied with less than half of these court-ordered requests. Its compliance was much higher for certain other countries.
Why would Google not comply with a content removal request? “Some requests may not be specific enough for us to know what the government wanted us to remove…and others involve allegations of defamation through informal letters from government agencies, rather than court orders,” Google explained. Also, the search engine noted in its FAQ that they sometimes receive falsified court orders, “and if we determine that a court order is false, we will not comply with it.”
User data requests from governments may be more worrisome. All countries seem to be showing an up trend here, with the United States leading the pack. In the six-month period covered in the report, the US government made 7,969 requests for user data covering 16,281 accounts – and Google fully or partially complied with these requests ninety percent of the time. These numbers represent more than a third of all user data requests made worldwide – and close to half of the accounts covered in user data requests.
So if you have a Gmail or other Google account, should you be worried? That depends on whether you’ve committed a crime, or have a close association to someone who has. According to Stewart Baker, a former assistant secretary at the US Department of Homeland Security, “The government can’t just wander through your emails just because they’d like to know what you’re thinking or doing.” As he explained to the Associated Press, though, “[I]f the government is investigating a crime, it has a lot of authority to review people’s emails.” Even so, the trend is very clear: governments want more information about you, and may be beginning to rein in some of the free-flowing data online. Still, given the sheer size of the Internet, there’s no need to get paranoid yet.
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Liberals, remember this?
https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=liberal+bush+is+hitler&bav=on.2,or.r_cp.r_qf.&bvm=bv.46226182,d.eWU&biw=1397&bih=737&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi
NSA Whistleblower: Everyone in US under virtual surveillance, all info stored, no matter the post
http://www.redicecreations.com/article.php?id=22831
Under Obama, Government Surillance is spying on ALL US Citizens, not just “suspisicous suspects” as in the Bush Era
http://reason.com/archives/2012/10/03/warrantless-spying-skyrockets-under-obam
http://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security-technology-and-liberty/new-justice-department-documents-show-huge-increase
http://illinoisreview.typepad.com/illinoisreview/2011/05/government-surveillance-skyrockets-under-obama.html
http://www.alternet.org/obamas-nod-congress-promises-five-more-years-widespread-government-surveillance
http://prn.fm/2013/01/25/under-obama-ii-five-more-yearsof-widespread-government-surveillance/
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2012/03/surv-m26.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/28/warrantless-electronic-surveillance-obama_n_1924508.html
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article32591.htm
FYI: I’m Libertarian, never liked bush/obama/romney/or any NWO Globalist puppet!
USA! USA! USA!
Liberals, remember this?
https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=liberal+bush+is+hitler&bav=on.2,or.r_cp.r_qf.&bvm=bv.46226182,d.eWU&biw=1397&bih=737&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi
NSA Whistleblower: Everyone in US under virtual surveillance, all info stored, no matter the post
http://www.redicecreations.com/article.php?id=22831
Under Obama, Government Surillance is spying on ALL US Citizens, not just “suspisicous suspects” as in the Bush Era
http://reason.com/archives/2012/10/03/warrantless-spying-skyrockets-under-obam
http://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security-technology-and-liberty/new-justice-department-documents-show-huge-increase
http://illinoisreview.typepad.com/illinoisreview/2011/05/government-surveillance-skyrockets-under-obama.html
http://www.alternet.org/obamas-nod-congress-promises-five-more-years-widespread-government-surveillance
http://prn.fm/2013/01/25/under-obama-ii-five-more-yearsof-widespread-government-surveillance/
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2012/03/surv-m26.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/28/warrantless-electronic-surveillance-obama_n_1924508.html
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article32591.htm
FYI: I’m Libertarian, never liked bush/obama/romney/or any NWO Globalist puppet!
USA! USA! USA!
GOVERNMENT SEEKS TO FINE COMPANIES FOR NOT COMPLYING WITH WIRETAP ORDERS
It isn’t often that communications companies push back against government requests to monitor customers and hand over information about them, but a government task force is seeking to make it even harder for companies to say no.
The task force is pushing for legislation that would penalize companies like Google, Facebook and Skype that fail to comply with court orders for wiretapping, according to the Washington Post. The cost of non-complying would be an escalating series of fines, starting at tens of thousands of dollars. Fines that remained unpaid after 90 days would double daily.
Unlike telecommunications companies that are required under the 1994 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) to have systems that are wiretap-enabled, some internet communication methods — such as social networking sites and online gaming sites — aren’t easily wiretapped and are not required to enable the capability under CALEA. Companies that argue that they don’t have the means to enable wiretapping have avoided complying with court orders seeking real-time surveillance, the paper notes. The legislation is intended to force these companies into finding technology solutions that would enable real-time surveillance.
Microsoft reportedly applied for a patent in 2009 for a technology called Legal Intercept that would have the ability to secretly monitor, intercept and record Skype calls. Microsoft filed for the patent before it bought Skype in 2011.
The push for legislation to compel these companies to cooperate with wiretapping orders began in 2010 after Google initiated end-to-end encryption for Gmail and text messages, which made it more difficult for the FBI to intercept e-mail under a court order, the Post notes.
But critics like Matt Blaze, professor of computer science at the University of Pennsylvania, have argued that the intercept capabilities introduce vulnerabilities (.pdf) that make it possible for foreign intelligence agencies and others to hijack the surveillance systems on communication networks and do their own spying.
The move to wiretap the internet isn’t new. The New York Times reported in 2010 that federal officials were seeking new regulations to wiretap the internet.
The piece noted that officials wanted legislation that would require all communications providers — including encrypted e-mail providers, like Google, social networking sites like Facebook, and messaging and voice services like Skype — to install the technical capability for wiretapping. Officials wanted these services to provide the ability not only to intercept and record communications but to and decrypt encrypted communications.
Officials argue that they’re not seeking new powers; they just want to extend the monitoring authority they currently have for telecommunications to other communication methods on the internet.
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/04/fines-wiretap-noncompliance/
increased survalence quickly leads to Stalinism
With all the hype lately about Google & the Government wanting access to searches just had a question.
Is is illegal to view porn on the internet?
How does someone know if the pics are of people over 18?
I agree porn is bad. It can be addictive. 1) I never bought any porn on the net. 2) I don’t seek out illegal porn. What I am concerned with is say I’m browsing (clicking on free websites where they let you view some pics for free) and I click and suddenly am transported to a different site and some weird crap appears that might be illegal. Does that somehow trigger something that I now have that image on my PC and even after clearing temp internet files I’m doomed with that image forever?
Again, I was searching for legal stuff but somehow something that I think might not be pops up.
So if some jerk e-mails you something and you simply open it and find a really disturbing pic and it ends up being illegal you automatically are screwed? Seems a little to simplistic.
‘Discuss the increasing use of surveillance and government databases on security and privacy’. I have no clue what this question wants me to do. And my teacher is really strict so he wants us to make it perfect. Can you explain this too me please? And how do I plan it? Thanks
What do you think of Ron Paul?
Liberals, remember this?
https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=liberal+bush+is+hitler&bav=on.2,or.r_cp.r_qf.&bvm=bv.46226182,d.eWU&biw=1397&bih=737&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi
NSA Whistleblower: Everyone in US under virtual surveillance, all info stored, no matter the post
http://www.redicecreations.com/article.php?id=22831
Under Obama, Government Surillance is spying on ALL US Citizens, not just “suspisicous suspects” as in the Bush Era
http://reason.com/archives/2012/10/03/warrantless-spying-skyrockets-under-obam
http://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security-technology-and-liberty/new-justice-department-documents-show-huge-increase
http://illinoisreview.typepad.com/illinoisreview/2011/05/government-surveillance-skyrockets-under-obama.html
http://www.alternet.org/obamas-nod-congress-promises-five-more-years-widespread-government-surveillance
http://prn.fm/2013/01/25/under-obama-ii-five-more-yearsof-widespread-government-surveillance/
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2012/03/surv-m26.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/28/warrantless-electronic-surveillance-obama_n_1924508.html
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article32591.htm
FYI: I’m LIBERTARIAN, never liked bush/obama/roney/or any NWO GlobLISAT PPPUEPPUT!@
On one side of the argument I see people supporting it because the governments are using the data to dish out justice to internet scum. But on the other hand, people are worried about the future of digital privacy, in an ever more technological world shouldn’t we be?
I saw some google ceo get interviewed about it and at one point he basically said well if your doing something you want hidden from the government the maybe you shouldn’t be doing that…
It’s like that southpark episode where the kid keeps leaving the toilet seat down…
Big brothers gona be watching you poo before this is over!? Lol.
I want to establish a base market for my fiction book and NOT go through a “lulu-type” publishing company but need to know the costs I have to cover so I can use my tax return to cover them. I am on a small disability income and need to know all the costs up front.
Thank you both for insightful answers! I am looking at electronic publishing and expanding from there so this was exactly the kind of information I needed.
I will leave this question open a little longer in case some more people want to post.
Liberals, remember this?
https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=liberal+bush+is+hitler&bav=on.2,or.r_cp.r_qf.&bvm=bv.46226182,d.eWU&biw=1397&bih=737&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi
NSA Whistleblower: Everyone in US under virtual surveillance, all info stored, no matter the post
http://www.redicecreations.com/article.php?id=22831
Under Obama, Government Surillance is spying on ALL US Citizens, not just “suspisicous suspects” as in the Bush Era
http://reason.com/archives/2012/10/03/warrantless-spying-skyrockets-under-obam
http://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security-technology-and-liberty/new-justice-department-documents-show-huge-increase
http://www.alternet.org/obamas-nod-congress-promises-five-more-years-widespread-government-surveillance
http://prn.fm/2013/01/25/under-obama-ii-five-more-yearsof-widespread-government-surveillance/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/28/warrantless-electronic-surveillance-obama_n_1924508.html
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article32591.htm
http://www.legitgov.org/Warrantless-Electronic-Surveillance-Surges-Under-Obama-Justice-Department
http://current.com/community/93914813_warrantless-electronic-surveillance-surges-under-obama-justice-department.htm
FYI: I’m Libertarian, never liked bush/obama/romney/ or any NWO Globalist puppet, and this is where you make mindless insults about my character aka AD HOMINEM XD
Conspiracy nut, tin-foil hat, or just mention alex jones <—-This is what you should say when you're making mindless insults about my character!
USA! USA! USA!
‘Discuss the increasing use of surveillance and government databases on security and privacy’. I have no clue what this question wants me to do. And my teacher is really strict so he wants us to make it perfect. Can you explain this too me please? And how do I plan it? Thanks
Liberals, remember this?
https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=liberal+bush+is+hitler&bav=on.2,or.r_cp.r_qf.&bvm=bv.46226182,d.eWU&biw=1397&bih=737&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi
Under Obama, Government Surillance is spying on ALL US Citizens, not just “suspisicous suspects” as in the Bush Era
http://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security-technology-and-liberty/new-justice-department-documents-show-huge-increase
http://illinoisreview.typepad.com/illinoisreview/2011/05/government-surveillance-skyrockets-under-obama.html
http://www.alternet.org/obamas-nod-congress-promises-five-more-years-widespread-government-surveillance
http://prn.fm/2013/01/25/under-obama-ii-five-more-yearsof-widespread-government-surveillance/
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2012/03/surv-m26.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/28/warrantless-electronic-surveillance-obama_n_1924508.html
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article32591.htm
http://www.legitgov.org/Warrantless-Electronic-Surveillance-Surges-Under-Obama-Justice-Department
http://current.com/community/93914813_warrantless-electronic-surveillance-surges-under-obama-justice-department.htm
FYI: I’m Libertarian, never liked bush/obama/romney/ or any NWO Globalist puppet!
Who are you voting for in the upcoming election?
thanks….:) 🙂 🙂
http://www.amconmag.com/2008/2008_02_11/feature.html
http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20080201005640&newsLang=en
Who here reads the American Conservative? Just wondering…
Why don’t they endorse McCain or Romney? I mean, those are the “true” conservatives, right?