

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page.


Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
Web giant Google stated on Tuesday that "government surveillance is on the rise."
The troubling and continuing trend is noted in its sixth and most recent Transparency Report disclosing the number of government requests for user data, as well as removal requests, Google has received.
In the new report, which covers January to June 2012, Google includes a country-by-country breakdown of requests from government agencies and courts for user data. It received nearly 21,000 requests from various countries for user data, but it is the U.S. that tops the charts for the 6-month period with 7,969 requests affecting over 16,000 users or accounts, and 90% of those requests were either partly or fully complied with.
India and Brazil followed the U.S. for the highest number of requests for user data, with 2,319 and 1,566 requests respectively.
Google notes in a blog post about the report that, while country to country numbers vary for requests for user data or content removal, "in aggregate around the world, the numbers continue to go up."
# # #
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Web giant Google stated on Tuesday that "government surveillance is on the rise."
The troubling and continuing trend is noted in its sixth and most recent Transparency Report disclosing the number of government requests for user data, as well as removal requests, Google has received.
In the new report, which covers January to June 2012, Google includes a country-by-country breakdown of requests from government agencies and courts for user data. It received nearly 21,000 requests from various countries for user data, but it is the U.S. that tops the charts for the 6-month period with 7,969 requests affecting over 16,000 users or accounts, and 90% of those requests were either partly or fully complied with.
India and Brazil followed the U.S. for the highest number of requests for user data, with 2,319 and 1,566 requests respectively.
Google notes in a blog post about the report that, while country to country numbers vary for requests for user data or content removal, "in aggregate around the world, the numbers continue to go up."
# # #
Web giant Google stated on Tuesday that "government surveillance is on the rise."
The troubling and continuing trend is noted in its sixth and most recent Transparency Report disclosing the number of government requests for user data, as well as removal requests, Google has received.
In the new report, which covers January to June 2012, Google includes a country-by-country breakdown of requests from government agencies and courts for user data. It received nearly 21,000 requests from various countries for user data, but it is the U.S. that tops the charts for the 6-month period with 7,969 requests affecting over 16,000 users or accounts, and 90% of those requests were either partly or fully complied with.
India and Brazil followed the U.S. for the highest number of requests for user data, with 2,319 and 1,566 requests respectively.
Google notes in a blog post about the report that, while country to country numbers vary for requests for user data or content removal, "in aggregate around the world, the numbers continue to go up."
# # #