Private eyes

Apple details requests for user data from global governments

The number of requests from governments and third parties for Apple users’ information

has been published by Apple. The report makes interesting reading for anyone keen to see how Apple shares its users’ details with governments around the world.

For instance, in the first half of 2017 the UK government requested an unusually high number of financial identifiers in its requests, totalling 1,387. That’s up from 1,091 in the preceding six months. Apple states that this was mostly related to investigations into credit card fraud and iTunes gift card fraud.

Apple also received a high number of requests relating to emergencies where it is believed that death or serious injury may occur if the data is not divulged. The UK government sent Apple 104 such requests in the first half of 2017 – a huge portion of the 128 such requests sent in the whole of Europe, Africa, India and the Middle East.

The requests cover a number of categories, from helping users locate their lost or stolen phones to more serious national security matters. In the US, Apple received between 13,250 and 13,499 national security requests, compared to between 5,750 and 5,999 in the last six months of 2016. National security figures for the UK were not available.