In this Index on Censorship magazine interview from 2011, the celebrated Cuban blogger talks to Nick Caistor and Amanda Hopkinson
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Governments and courts in 31 countries requested data from 33,634 Google users or accounts in the second half of 2012 according to the company’s latest Transparency Report.
While the number of data requests rose by two per cent — from 20,938 to 21,389 — the proportion of requests Google fully or partially complied with dropped by one point — to 66 per cent.
The US led the pack in number of requests, accounts specified and percentage honoured. American law enforcement agencies issued 8,438 requests for data from 14,791 accounts, 88 per cent of which Google fully or partially complied with. Other countries issuing more than 1,000 requests in late 2012 were India, France, Germany, the UK and Brazil.
The 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) compels Google to comply with government requests. This was the company’s first Transparency Report to breakdown the proportion of requests by legal process used.
68 per cent of requests came via subpoenas — without a warrant — under the ECPA. Warrants are not required for access to data more than 180 days old. 22 per cent of requests came with a warrant, and the remaining 10 per cent were uncategorised.
“We believe the US laws should be updated,” William Echikson, Head of Free Expression Policy and PR for EMEA at Google, told Index. “Our users deserve to have their online correspondence and documents afforded the same legal protections from government access as they get for their physical documents.”
According to the report, Google reviews each request to ensure its compliance with “both the spirit and the letter of the law” and sometimes tries to narrow the data requested.
“Debates about government surveillance should start with data,” Echikson added. “Our disclosures are only a tiny sliver of what’s happening on the Internet at large.”
Echikson said he hopes more companies and governments will join Google to increase transparency and keep citizens informed by releasing similar data. Competitors and collaborators alike are doing just that, but to varying degrees and with varying success.
In 2012, Dropbox, LinkedIn and Twitter shared similar statistics. The Electronic Frontier Foundation’s (EFF) 2012 report “Who Has Your Back” rates 18 companies on transparency regarding government requests for user data. These ratings take into account whether companies tell their users about government data demands and whether they fight for user privacy in courts and congress. Only Sonic.net, an ISP based in California, earned full stars in each category of EFF’s privacy and transparency report.
Google’s latest Transparency Report does not include content removal requests. Company officials said those numbers will be released separately in several months time.
Brian Pellot is the digital policy adviser at Index.
This week Index held a high level panel debate in partnership with the Editors Guild of India and the India International Centre to discuss the question “Is freedom of expression under threat in the digital age?” Mahima Kaul reports
Tech giant Google is in the middle of a censorship debate in Brazil after its top executive in the country was temporarily detained during the latest mayoral election.
Fabio Coelho was detained in September by order of a judge from the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. He demanded the removal of YouTube videos considered offensive against Alcides Bernal, the mayoral candidate of state capital Campo Grande. Since the video wasn’t promptly deleted, Coelho was held responsible.
He was questioned by federal police and released shortly after.
Google Brazil executive Fabio Coelho. Image from Twitter
Brazilian law is extremely rigid about offensive material aimed at political candidates. But many view some of the judges’ attitudes in these cases as excessive and often times myopic.
In a statement issued in September, Coelho said the episode had “intimidating effects” on freedom of expression. He claimed the videos were “legitimate manifestations of free speech” and should be kept available.
“There are gaps in Brazil’s electoral legislation that make this kind of situation possible”, said Google Brazil’s Public Policy Senior Counsel Marcel Leonardi about Coelho’s arrest. He added:
We hope this episode puts a light on the need to adjust Brazil’s law, so that legitimate political outcries from internet users can be differentiated from, say, unlawful propaganda. The dynamics of the internet need to be understood.
In November, lobbying by telecom companies in the Brazilian Congress’s lower house killed a draft bill known as the “internet bill of rights”, a civil rights framework to guarantee basic rights for internet users, content creators and online intermediaries.
Google says Brazil is one of the countries that has the most cases of site removal requests made by government agencies.