NDM Story #13 Germany tops table of Facebook data requests

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/nov/05/germany-tops-table-facebook-data-requests


In public, Germany has been leading the fight against privacy-invading US technology companies. But in private, the country made more requests per capita for user data than any other. New figures from Facebook show that the German government makes more requests for user data, relative to the size of its Facebook user base, than any other.

• Facebook’s latest transparency report reveals that Germany made 2,537 requests for user data in the first half of 2014.

• With the country’s Facebook population estimated at 22 million by eMarketer, that means the government made 115 requests for data for every million users. 

• Those requests referenced 3,078 user accounts, but just a third of them led to some data being produced.

• Italy, America and France are the next three biggest sources of government requests, each producing around 100 requests per million users. Britain comes fifth of the 20 countries the Guardian studied, with 70 requests for data per million users.

• But requests from Britain and America are significantly more likely to be granted than those from mainland Europe; 71% and 80% of requests are granted, a success rate twice as high as that of Germany or France (where just 30% of requests lead to data being handed over).

• In the US, no such content was restricted, while three countries – India, Turkey, and Pakistan – restricted access to more than a thousand pieces of content each, with India topping the censorship charts after imposing restrictions on 4,960 items. The country has the second-largest Facebook user base after the USA.

In my opinion, I believe that technology develops at different rates in different parts of the world. As Twitter is taking over Facebook in the UK, it is not the same with Germany.