Google's transparency report indicates an increase in government snooping.
In a new report issued by Google, it appears that large democracies are the most interested in mining data from the world's most popular search engine:
Google handed over more user data to the US government in the first six months of this year than to all other countries combined.The US made 7,969 requests for user data, of which Google complied with 90 percent. Next most inquisitive was India, with 2,319 requests, Brazil with 1,566, France with 1,546, Germany with 1,533 and the UK with 1,425.
Obviously, the data set here is going to be skewed toward countries where Google use is prevalent. Still, it's not just governments looking for information - it's governments taking down information as well:
Meanwhile, requests to remove content were also up - by 46 percent on the case of the US. The number rose by 98 percent in the UK, 132 percent in France and 145 percent in Germany.Turkey showed the greatest rise, with content removal requests rocketing by 1,013 percent. Many of these related to sites critical to the government.
