Google Releases Transparency Report

Last week Google released another transparency report detailing information requests from government agencies on its users. Google even created a movie, involving Lego-like characters, explaining specifically how Google processes and deals with user information requests from government entities and law enforcement agencies when there is a warrant. 

"You deserve to know when and how governments request user information online, and we’ll keep fighting to make sure that’s the case," said Richard Salgado, Legal Director, Law Enforcement and Information Security, in a news release.

"While we’ve always known how important transparency is when it comes to government requests, the events of the past year have underscored just how urgent the issue is," Google said in a blog post. "From being the first company to disclose information about National Security Letters to fighting for the ability to publish more about FISA requests, we’ve continually advocated for your right to know." 

According to Google's transparency report, requests for users' information has jump steadily since 2009. The number of requests jumped from 12,539, in 2009 to 27,477 requests in 2013. As the number of requests have jumped, the percentage of requests where some data was produced/released has actually decreased, according to Google's report. In 2010, Google produced information for 76 percent of requests. That percentage fell to 64 percent in 2013. 

Of the 27,477 user information requests Google received the country responsible for the most requests was the U.S. with 10,574 requests. Google gave information in 83 percent of those cases. Other countries with request totaling more than 1,000 are the United Kingdom, India, Germany, France and Brazil.

"We consistently push back against overly broad requests for your personal information, but it’s also important for laws to explicitly protect you from government overreach," Salgado wrote. "That’s why we’re working alongside eight other companies to push for surveillance reform, including more transparency."

To review the complete Google transparency report, click here.