The latest Surfshark report analyzes the number of accounts specified in user data requests for Big Tech by the local authorities and law enforcement agencies. In total, over 6.6 million accounts were requested in 177 countries from 2013 to 2021, with a steady increase in the latest years.

Singapore ranks 1st in Asia with 607.1 accounts requested per 100k people. The research shows that authorities in the United States and European Union (EU) requested data the most.

Apple complied with the most user data requests (82%), compared to Meta, Google, and Microsoft (72%, 71%, and 68%, respectively).

The research from the VPN company analyzes the just-released information on user data requests that Apple, Google, Meta, and Microsoft received from 177 countries’ local authorities between 2013 and 2021.

The collected data was aggregated and analyzed in five major categories: user data requests received, partially or fully disclosed requests, percentages of disclosed requests, accounts specified within these requests, and requested accounts per 100K people in each country. Countries with less than 1 million people were excluded from the ranking for statistical accuracy.

The cases of requests may be related to criminal investigations, as well as civil or administrative cases when digital evidence is needed.

The research shows that globally, countries requested more than 6.6 million accounts combined during the 9-year period, while Singapore requested 36k.

Looking at requested accounts per population, Singapore ranks 3rd in the world and 1st in Asia based on the user accounts requested by authorities over this time period (607.1 accounts per 100k people), in comparison to Taiwan (10th with 309 accounts/100k) and Malaysia (71st with four accounts/100k).

Singapore made seven times more requests than the global average (87.9/100k).

Global trends show that governments request more user data than ever

The number of accounts requested increased more than five times from 2013 to 2021, with 2021 seeing a year-over-year increase of around 25%.

Singapore shows the same trend, with a 532% increase from 2013 to 2021. Requested accounts grew by 44% in 2021 compared to 2020.

“Besides requesting data from technology companies, authorities are now exploring more ways to monitor and tackle crime through online services. For instance, the EU is considering a regulation that would require internet service providers to detect, report, and remove abuse-related content,” says Gabriele Kaveckyte, Privacy Counsel at Surfshark.

“On one hand, introducing such new measures could help solve serious criminal cases, but civil society organizations expressed their concerns of encouraging surveillance techniques which may later be used, for example, to track down political rivals.”

The U.S. and EU account for around 60% of all accounts of interest from 2013 to 2021. To compare the two, the U.S. requested more than double the accounts per 100K people than all EU countries combined. Looking at the top 10, five countries are from the EU. Singapore, the UK, Australia, and Taiwan comprise the rest.

Over the nine years, companies fully or partially disclosed data from around 2.5 million requests. The overall disclosure rate in Singapore is 70.6%. Google and Meta are the ones that have received the highest number of account requests from authorities in Singapore.

Globally, from 2013 to 2021, the disclosure rate grew by almost 71%. Apple has been leading in disclosure rates since 2016, raising them from 75% in 2016 to 86% in 2021. While Apple’s average is 82%, the remaining companies have slightly lower disclosure rates: Meta – 72%, Google – 71%, and Microsoft – 68%.

Subscribe
Notify of
7 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
You May Also Like

UK MPs resume Brexit feuding as new bill faces first Commons vote

by Jitendra Joshi/Joe Jackson Britain’s parliament on Monday finds itself in familiar…

UK offering ‘protection to fugitives’ after bounty put on Hong Kong activists

China accuses UK of protecting fugitives; UK defends stance against China’s interference in Hong Kong’s affairs.

US experts meet ahead of expected Moderna vaccine approval

by Issam Ahmed US experts meet Thursday to decide whether to recommend…