Surveillance: Germany requests the most user data in Europe
German authorities have ordered Apple, Meta, Google and Microsoft to disclose data on 709,400 accounts between 2013 and 2022. It is the highest number in Europe
(Image: Gerhard Gellinger, gemeinfrei)
Germany is the European champion when it comes to requesting inventory data from large tech companies. Over a period of ten years, German authorities have requested user information on 709,400 accounts from Apple, Meta, Google and Microsoft since 2013.
In terms of population, this puts Germany in second place worldwide behind the USA and in first place in Europe (850 requested account information per 100,000 inhabitants). That is 57 percent of the accounts queried in Western Europe.
In comparison: Austria ranks 22nd worldwide with 136 requests for inventory data per 100,000 citizens, Switzerland ranks 15th with 245 such requests. German authorities thus requested more than seven times as much information on user accounts per inhabitant as the global average.
The figures come from a recently published analysis of the transparency reports of the four big tech companies by VPN provider Surfshark, which included 190 countries. The requests often relate to criminal investigations. However, authorities also request user data in civil or administrative cases in which they require digital evidence. Between 2013 and 2022, the nations covered worldwide requested information on almost 9 million accounts from the four platform operators. The number has increased more than eightfold during this decade, with an increase of around 38% in 2022 alone compared to the previous year.
Apple has been particularly willing to provide information since 2016
The USA and the EU account for 58% of all accounts that were of interest to the authorities during the period under review. The total amount of inventory data queried in the USA since 2013 is 3.3 million. This also puts the United States in first place in the per capita evaluation. Half of the top ten countries are in the EU: Germany, France, Ireland, Portugal and Belgium. Singapore, the UK, South Korea and Brazil make up the rest with the most requests per 100,000 inhabitants.
However, the four tech companies do not always respond to requests for the disclosure of data in full or only partially. German authorities received more or less detailed information in 65.4 percent of their requests. Google received the most requests from local authorities, Apple the least. During the analysis period, the companies complied with an average of 72 percent of requests for user data. Apple has been the most willing to provide information since 2016 and has increased its disclosure rate from 75 percent in 2016 to 83 percent in 2022. While the iPhone manufacturer's average is 82%, the other three companies have slightly lower disclosure rates: Google and Meta come in at 73, while Microsoft lands at 67 percent. Surfshark is concerned that government access to users' communication data could be significantly expanded with the planned EU regulation on chat control.
(nie)
