India ranks second in the list of countries that approached Google with requests, seeking information on users. While the US topped the list with 10,918 requests, India followed with 2,691 during the January-June period this year.

“We have produced some data with regard to 64 per cent of the Indian requests,” Google has said.

“It is your right to know what kinds of requests and how many each government is making of us and other companies. The US Government argues that we cannot share information about the requests we receive under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. But you deserve to know,” it asserted in an updated Transparency Report.

The Government requests for user information have doubled over three years. It began sharing the information publicly three years ago.

“This comes as usage of our services continues to grow, but also as more governments have made requests than ever before,” it said.

It, however, said that the numbers included the requests that it was allowed to publish, indicating that the number could still be bigger. The firm has updated the report for the eighth time.

The other top rankers in the list includes Germany with 2,311 requests, France (2,011), the UK (1,274), Brazil (1,239) and Italy (901), Richard Salgado, Legal Director (Law Enforcement and Information Security) of the firm, said.

It felt that the Government entities should be required to obtain a warrant before requiring companies like Google to disclose the content of users’ electronic communication.

>kurmanath.kanchi@thehindu.co.in

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