Google: Government Requests for User Data Up 120%

Google announced Thursday that government requests for user information has increased by 120% since 2009. Though the number of Google users has also increased over the same time period, the company says it is “seeing more and more governments start to exercise their authority to make requests.”

Google’s announcement comes by way of its bi-annual transparency report, which details government requests for user data where the company is legally able to do so. The report comes just one week after news that Google is working on enhancements to its Gmail service that would make it more difficult to conduct mass surveillance of users’ messages.

[Google: Official Blog]