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August 27, 2013 09:06 pm GMT

Facebook Reports Government Data Requests, US Leads With 12K During The First Half Of 2013

2013-08-27_09h31_55Today Facebook did the world a service by detailing the number of data-collection requests it receives from various nations around the world, as well as the number of user accounts that are part of the inquiries. It also lists the percentage of requests that were honored. The U.S. is by far the most active requester of Facebook user information. In the first half of 2013, the U.S. logged between 11,000 and 12,000 requests for Facebook user data, involving 20,000 to 21,000 accounts.That the U.S. came in first should not come as a surprise and instead merely confirms that the U.S. government is exactly as zealous about digging into the private digital information of global citizens as you thought.India, in second place, made 3,245 requests. The United Kingdom came in third with 1,975 requests, and fourth place went to Germany with 1,886 requests. The data is not surprising — we knew that governments ask Facebook for user data and often get it. The United States, for example, had 79 percent of its requests honored by Facebook. Poland, with 233 requests, had only 9 percent answered. Facebook, in its transparency, is working to exonerate itself as being complicit in government surveillance. Look, it’s trying to say, this is what is requested, and this is how we have handled it. The figures almost feel small: 25,000 requests from all governments? Well, perhaps. Key to remember in all of this is that U.S. law prevents discussion and disclosure of certain requests. So we now have a decent grok of what Facebook is allowed to tell us. The data point is nice, but hardly complete. Keep in mind, if you take mental refuge in the figures at all, that this is merely one way that the U.S. government collects information on the digital activity of both its citizens and those abroad. It also collects huge sums of the Internet via telecom companies, and taps the fiber-optic lines that constitute the Internet’s passageways. Why would the government have programs such as PRISM and make requests like those detailed above if it can tap the Internet? Because if it wants all the data on your account, it is far simpler to demand or extort a wrapped package of information from Facebook than it is to slowly collect the same data as you use your account. So, various systems are used to ensure that the government has whatever

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