“Emergency requests are the new trend” – Big Tech forced more and more often forced to make the data of users known to the authorities worldwide, according to a new report
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- New Surfshark study reveals a steady increase in government requests for user data
- Great technical giants are also increasingly becoming the target of emergency requests, which means less legal research
- While the UK leads the demand for emergency requests, the US leads the global demand for data from users
Since 2020, about 190 governments have requested information for data from a total of 8.4 million user accounts – a new one research performed by Surfshark, one of the Best VPN Being able to reveal providers on the market.
What most worries SurfsharkHowever, the experts are that emergency requests become “a new trend”.
Since 2013, a total of 153 thousand account data requests have been made in an emergency, where the VK leads the question worldwide. Although these requests are crucial to protect public safety, the space for abuse is also high.
The risks of an increase in emergency requests
Authorities can submit emergency requests when there is an imminent threat to life or serious injury, such as in the case of suicides, shootings at school or incidents with bomb threats.
The purpose of these special requirements is to obtain critical information as quickly as possible. This means that law enforcement often has access to users without a judicial order or summons, de facto bypass standard legal proceedings.
Still, “if governments begin to abuse these practices, for example by interpreting ‘threats’ too broadly, this can lead to mass surveillance, collecting enormous amounts of data and it can endanger essential freedoms,” said Privacy Counsel on Surfshark, Goda Sukackaite.
This is the reason why, according to Sukackaite, although emergency requests play an important role in protecting lives and public safety, they still require careful regulations and supervision to protect individual rights and prevent potential abuse.
The Surfshark team analyzed emergency requests to make between 2013 and the first half of 2024 worldwide against large major technology companies (Google, Microsoft, Apple and Meta).
As mentioned earlier, the UK leads the way here by explaining 26% of all 153 thousand of emergency requests that have been made since 2013. The US follows a court case with 22%, in which the United Arab Emirates reach third position with 10.5% requests.
Google is the company that is the most target of these emergency requests, accounting for 85% of all requirements issued worldwide. However, it is worth noting that Google was the only company that revealed the emergency requests between 2013 and 2015.
Nevertheless, over the years, experts were able to register an escalation in emergency requests (see image above), in which the first quarter of 2024 alone has seen 15 thousand requests.
It is also worth noting that, while Google, Microsoft and Apple provide information about the number of emergency requests they receive, Meta does not specify this.
US data requests and EU lead users
In addition to emergency requests, authorities can demand access to data from users during criminal investigations. Government agencies can also request the online information from citizens for civil or administrative matters.
SurfShark experts registered a total of 293 thousand accounts requested in 2013 alone. By 2020 this number had grown to nearly 1.3 million, with a record high of more than 2.2 million reached in 2022. After a small decrease in 2023, experts now expect that 2024 will be on their way to reach new heights.
As mentioned earlier, the US is the country that demands access to the data of the citizens the most, with an average of one account requested per 100 thousand people. However, European countries contribute to the top 10 list with six regions (Germany, the UK, France, Ireland, Poland and Switzerland). Singapore, Brazil and Zuid -Korea also come to the top 10 of the data requests of users.
Meta has so far been the most important target of the authorities, accounting for 43% of the 12.1 million accounts that were requested from 2013 to mid -2024. Google was the second most affected company (39%). Microsoft and Apple were the least focused, with 10% and 8% of the requests respectively.
While the aforementioned numbers take into account the data requested by the authorities worldwide, the Surfshark report also gives us some information about the disclosure rates of the companies.
Between 2016 and 2022, Apple was at the forefront here, with its disclosure percentage from 76% to 83%. While compliance with Apple fell to 79% in 2023, the rate of Google started to grow and reached 82% in mid -2024.
“This is currently making Google the company with the highest disclosure percentage,” Surfshark noted, adding that today’s compliance is immediately behind Google.
Despite an increase in the first half of 2024, Microsoft has remained the company that reveals the least user information since 2018.
How you can protect your sensitive data
If you are worried about your privacy, we recommend that you take a few steps to minimize the information that you share with large technical giants.
These include the use of a Virtual Private Network (VPN) Software every time you browse the internet. It codes your internet connections while you spoire your real IP address.
However, it is more important that you must use privacy -oriented alternatives if possible. Proton, for example, offers a series of software to help you Cut Google from your digital lifeIncludes one Safe e -mail employ, Password managercoded calendar and Docs tool.
Here you can find more tips de-Google your lifeIncluding how you can choose a more private browser and more.
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