Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Facebook reveals governments asked for data on 38,000 users in 2013

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/aug/27/facebook-government-user-requests

Facebook, and Twitter, have become organising platforms for activists around the world. The figures show Facebook pushed back against requests from governments in both Egypt and Turkey. Egypt made eight requests for information on 11 account holders over the six months and Facebook did not comply with any of them in that period.

In Turkey, where prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called social media "the worst menace to society", authorities made 96 requests for information on 170 account holders. Facebook complied in 47% of cases over the time period.
"We fight many of these requests, pushing back when we find legal deficiencies and narrowing the scope of overly broad or vague requests," Stretch said. "When we are required to comply with a particular request, we frequently share only basic user information, such as name."
India made the next highest number of requests for information, 3,245 requests on 4,144 users. Facebook complied in 50% of cases. In the UK authorities asked for details on 2,337 users and Facebook complied in 68% of cases.