Facebook sees 60pc rise in data requests
FACEBOOK has disclosed a 60 per cent rise in requests for the personal data of users in Britain, with the social network fielding 3,384 demands in six months from the Government and law enforcement authorities.
The social network’s latest transparency report, released last night, showed a significant rise in requests for information across the world.
After the United States and India, Facebook received more requests in the UK than any other country.
It comes at a time of growing scrutiny of official snooping on citizens, after last week’s publication of the Investigatory Powers Bill, which includes a requirement for internet providers to store browsing data.
During the first half of 2015, Facebook received 3,384 requests for data concerning 4,489 accounts. This was up from 2,110 requests in the same period a year ago and 1,975 in the first half of 2013.
Facebook, which has more than 30 million users in the UK, complied with 78pc of requests, up from 72pc a year ago. Internet firms have begun pub- lishing regular transparency reports about official information requests.
Twitter said earlier in the year that UK requests had more than doubled in six months. Apple, Google and Microsoft have also seen increases in personal data requests in recent years.
“As we have emphasised before, Facebook does not provide any government with ‘back doors’ or direct access to people’s data,” the company said in a statement.
“We scrutinise each request we receive for legal sufficiency, whether from an authority in the US, Europe or elsewhere. If a request appears to be deficient or overly broad, we push back hard and will fight in court, if necessary.”
It added: “We’ll also keep working with partners in industry and civil society to push governments around the world to reform surveillance in a way that protects their citizens’ safety and security while respecting their rights and freedoms.”
The UK was by far the biggest requester of Facebook data in the European Union, although France, Italy and Germany also requested thousands of account details.