Twitter Inc Received 40 Percent More Govt. Data Requests

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In its transparency report, Twitter informed users that it has received 40% more data requests from governments across the world

Twitter is receiving an increasing number of requests from the world’s governments for information on its users, as is evident from the twice-yearly transparency report it released on Monday. The company last submitted its report in July year, and since then, requests have gone up to 2,871, which is 40% higher than it was in July.

Twitter received the most requests from Turkey

Twitter has been receiving a rising number of requests from government agencies around the world, and this has been disclosed in the report released recently. It shows that more than 50 countries put forward their requests for data on the specific users.

In a company blog post, Jeremy Kessel, senior manager of global legal policy at Twitter, said, “These reports shine a light on government requests for customers’ information,” adding, “Providing this insight is simply the right thing to do, especially in an age of increasing concerns about government surveillance.”

There have been several instances of clashes between the government of Turkey and Twitter, and the micro-blogging company received the most requests from Turkey.

Tech firms making constant efforts

Transparency reports have been in focus especially after the incident of Edward J. Snowden, a former National Security Agency contractor, who leaked information regarding the U.S. government agency’s surveillance program. According to the leaks, the NSA used tech companies for spying purposes. Since, then the top tech companies have constantly been making efforts to share more information with the public on the number of national security letters and Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court requests they get from government agencies.

Four years ago, the first disclosure of requests from the government regarding user data was made by Google, following which several other tech companies also came up with such disclosures, including names such as Facebook, Twitter and Microsoft.

Last year Apple, Google and Facebook led a group called Reform Government Surveillance, which won a settlement with the Dept. of Justice, allowing them to report the number of data requests from the government in groups of 1,000. Twitter was not part of the agreement, so it was able to go one step ahead, and in October, the company sued the government for restrictions on sharing data requests.

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