Collecting user data on Google

Main article: Google

2024: Google agrees to delete data on the actions of 130 million US citizens in the Chrome browser

The American company Google has agreed to delete the data of millions of more than 130 million US citizens using the Chrome browser amid allegations of illegal surveillance of users. This was announced on April 5, 2024 by the press service of the State Duma deputy RFAnton Nemkin. Read more here.

2023: Google to pay $93 million for collecting user location data when feature is disabled

On September 14, 2023, the American corporation Google entered into a settlement agreement in the framework of proceedings related to the unauthorized collection of user location data.

Charges against Google were brought by California Attorney General Rob Bonta. The essence of the claims boils down to the fact that the company continues to receive information about the location of users even after they have disabled the corresponding function in the settings of their devices. According to the case file, the company misleads consumers only by creating the appearance that they can control the collection of personal information. As a result, Google can display personalized ads without user permission. At the same time, court documents note that location-based Google advertising is an important part of its business, since customers want to promote their products depending on who lives and where. The lawsuit also says Google counts location in its "behavioral profile" of users.

Google will pay $93 million in the case of secret surveillance of users

Google assured consumers that it would not track their location as soon as they refused, but in practice did the opposite, continuing to collect data on user movements for its own commercial benefit. It's unacceptable and we're holding Google accountable, "Bonta said.

As part of the settlement, Google will have to pay $93 million. The corporation pleaded not guilty, but agreed to provide more information about ways to track users' locations. These conditions include greater transparency regarding data collection methods, notifications before using location information to create advertising profiles, etc. Similar measures would extend beyond California to other states.^[1]

2022

A fine of $29.5 million for tracking the location of users without their consent

In late December 2022, Google settled two lawsuits related to tracking the location of users of the company's products without their consent. The total amount of penalties amounted to $29.5 million.

The cases were heard in Indiana and Washington (DC). The court filing referred to an "odd and misleading" practice of collecting geolocation data from users of Google services. The company accumulated location information without obtaining prior consent from people. Such information can be used to target ads, allowing Google to display more relevant ads. And this, in turn, makes it possible to increase the interest of potential consumers and increase the company's income.

Google will pay $29.5 million to track the location of users without their consent

As part of the settlement of claims, Google will pay a fine of $20 million in Indiana, $9.5 million in Washington. In addition, the company promised to implement a pop-up notification feature for users who have location history or corresponding app activity enabled. Google will also report whether geolocation information collection is set in the settings of a particular application. The IT giant must provide guidance on actions users can take to change geolocation settings and delete accumulated data.

My office has reached an agreement with Google to pay the company $9.5 million for misleading and manipulating consumers, including using "dark patterns" to deceive users and gain access to their location data, said Attorney General of the District of Columbia Karl Racine.

Two more similar proceedings remain open in Texas and Washington: they also threaten Google with millions of fines.^[2]

Fine of $391 million for collecting user data by deception

On November 14, 2022, it became known that Google agreed to pay $391.5 million to resolve the proceedings initiated by 40 US states in connection with the illegal collection of user data by the IT giant.

As stated in the materials of the US Department of Justice, Google continued to receive information about the location of users of a number of its mobile applications even after they deactivated the corresponding option. The allegations span from 2014 to 2020. Information obtained by bypassing user consent helped the company customize the display of its advertisements.

Google will pay a fine of $391 million

Attorneys general concluded that the company violated state consumer protection laws by misleading users about its location-tracking practices. In particular, Google has not provided complete clarity on the extent to which users can restrict location tracking by changing account and/or mobile device settings.

The key initiators of the proceedings were Oregon and Nebraska; 38 more states joined them. Google uses the personal and behavioral data it collects to create detailed user profiles and target ads, it said. At the same time, location information is one of the most confidential and valuable types of personal data. Google, in turn, said that the company has already made a number of changes to the services provided, which gave users more control over personal data, including in the field of geolocation. In addition, other innovations are being prepared - in particular, simpler and more understandable tools for deleting location data.^[3][4]

Google will pay $85 million to secretly collect user location data

In early October 2022, it became known that Google would pay $85 million to the state of Arizona to settle a lawsuit in the case of illegal collection of user location data.

According to Bloomberg, in May 2020, Arizona accused Google of violating a state law protecting consumers from fraud. The company collected location data using other settings that record location history, such as Activity on the Internet and through other applications. This happened after users disabled the function that records the geolocation history of devices.

Google to pay $85 million to Arizona to settle lawsuit

Google's lawyers argued in their defense that the state's consumer protection law requires alleged fraud to be related to a sale or advertisement. However, in January 2021, an Arizona judge denied the company's request to dismiss the case, the agency said.

{{quote 'I'm proud of this historic settlement that proves that no organization, not even big tech companies, is above the law! Big businessmen should have more meticulous honesty than they usually have in other human relationships. Because big business requires teamwork on a giant scale, "said Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich. }} Citing a statement from Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, the settlement comes amid Google facing similar complaints from state attorneys general in Texas, Indiana and Washington over user location data. The settlement with Arizona represents the largest amount paid to Google per user in a similar privacy and consumer fraud lawsuit.^[5]

Google and Meta will pay billions to collect user data without their knowledge

On September 14, 2022, it became known that the South Korean regulator fined Google and Meta (recognized as extremist and banned in Russia) for tracking user behavior in Internet without their consent and using their data for targeted advertising. Read more here.

Heavy fines for violating EU persdata law

The largest fines for violating the law on personal data in EU as of September 6, 2022,
Instagram and Facebook are recognized as extremist organizations and banned in Russia

Google paid $42.7 million to collect data without users' knowledge

On August 12, 2022, Google agreed to pay $42.7 million in fines as a result of a multi-year lawsuit with the Australian antitrust regulator over the provision of false information to users about the collection of personal location information.

In April 2021, a federal court ruled that Google violated consumer law by misleading some local users who thought the company did not collect personal data about their location through mobile devices running the Android operating system between January 2017 and December 2018.

Google paid $42.7 million to collect user data

Google misled users by saying the "location history" feature on their Android mobile devices was the only way to get location data, while the company's online activity monitoring feature and apps also collect and store local data, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said.

The watchdog estimates that 1.3 million Google user accounts were affected in Australia in October 2019, and legal proceedings have been launched against the company and its local unit.

The company was also convicted of violating two other consumer protection laws regarding actions to mislead the public and provide inaccurate information about the functionality of services.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission then called the court's decision a clear signal to digital platforms about the need to openly inform consumers about what is happening to their data.

According to the regulator, Google took steps to eliminate the current problem back in 2018. At a brief federal court hearing, it was announced that the fine of A $60 million ($42.7 million) was agreed by the parties as "fair and reasonable."^[6]

Google will pay 10 million euros for the transfer of user data to third parties

Spanish data the AEPD protection body in May 2022, 2022, fining the company Google for "two very serious violations" related to the transfer of citizens' data EU to a third party without legal grounds and thus impeding the exercise of people's right to delete their personal data in accordance with. GDPR

Google was fined €10 million by Spain for violations of the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), according to which it was found that the company transferred information that could be used to identify citizens who required the removal of their personal data under EU law, including the email address, the reasons given and the stated URL, to a third party based in the United States, without having a legal basis for such further processing.

Google will pay 10 million euros for the transfer of user data to third parties

In addition to the fine, Google was ordered to make changes to its procedures to bring them into line with GDPR, as well as delete all personal data that is still stored by the company in connection with this violation.

The third party to which Google illegally transfers data is the Lumen Project, an American academic project of the Berkman Klein Center for the Internet and Society at Harvard University, which aims to collect and study legal requests to delete information from the network by creating a database of requests to delete content.

The AEPD also directed Google to "strongly ask" the Lumen project to stop using and erase all citizens' data from the EU. The AEPD found that by passing on the personal data of European citizens who demanded their data be deleted to the Lumen Project, Google essentially violated their legal right to delete information (under Article 17 of the GDPR) - also known as the "right to be forgotten." In its decision, AEPD argues that Google has not given users wishing to erase their data a choice regarding the transfer of their information to the Lumen Project, meaning there is no legitimate basis for transferring the data.

The regulator also criticised a system based on the form Google had developed for people requesting their data be deleted - for being confusing and requiring the choice of a query option, which the regulator said could have led to the request not being considered under data protection but under a different regulatory regime.

{{quote 'The Agency's decision states that this system is equivalent to "leaving Google LLC a decision on whether, when the GDPR is applied and when the GDPR is not applied, which would mean agreeing to that, that this organization can bypass the application of personal data protection rules, and, more specifically, agreement that the right to delete personal data is due to the content removal system developed by the responsible organization, the AEPD press release says. }} A Google spokesman said the company has already taken steps to change its processes, such as reducing the amount of information it shares with Lumen on requests to delete data coming from EU countries. Google also said that its general policy is not to share information about delete requests from personal data or any other delete requests that cite data protection or privacy rights.^[7]

Google will pay a fine of $188 million for forcing smartphone manufacturers to use Android

In mid-February 2022, the South Korean antimonopoly regulator announced an increase in the fine imposed on Google for alleged anti-competitive actions to $187.8 million. Initially, the fine was imposed in connection with the pressure of smartphone manufacturers to pre-install the Android operating system. Read more here.

Fine of 150 million euros due to cookies

In early January 2022 France Google , the National Commission on Informatics and Freedoms (CNIL) fined Meta Platforms 150 million and 60 million euros, respectively, for violations in the collection of user data.

As it Reuters clarifies, the claims relate to the management policy of the so-called. cookies files For some time they store in text the actions that the user performed on the site. These files allow you to track, for example, what is interesting to the user in order to offer him the most suitable advertising.

France fines Google and Facebook €150 million and €60 million over cookies

According to CNIL, disabling the function of saving cookies on facebook.com resources, google.fr and youtube.com is not as obvious to the user as enabling it. It is for this reason that fines were imposed on Google and Meta Platforms by the French regulator.

When you accept cookies, it is done with one click, "says Karin Kiefer, head of CNIL data protection and sanctions. - Rejecting cookies should be as simple as accepting them.

It is noted that the preliminary consent of Internet users to use cookies that help create targeted digital advertising campaigns occupies an important place in the EU requirements for data privacy.

The fine of 150 million euros imposed on Google turned out to be a record for the French National Commission on Informatics and Freedoms. The previous maximum was dated 2020, when 100 million euros were collected from Google.

A Google spokesman, commenting on the CNIL ruling, said the company understood the measure of its responsibility and would make the changes in agreement with CNIL. Meta representative - that Facebook users already have a greater degree of control over the privacy profile, and these permissions can always be canceled. But the company will still work in this direction.^[8]

2021: Google reveals user data in 50% of requests from Ukrainian authorities

Google reveals user data in almost half of requests from the Ukrainian authorities. This became known at the end of September 2021 from the corresponding report of the company. Read more here.

2020

Google sued for consuming mobile traffic on Android devices without permission

Google has been sued for consuming mobile traffic on Android devices without permission. This became known on November 16, 2020.

For some unknown reason, Android devices send 260 MB of data per month to Google using mobile traffic. The lawsuit "Taylor et al. v. Google" was filed in federal district court in the city of San Jose (California, USA) on behalf of four citizens living in Illinois, Wisconsin and Iowa. The plaintiffs hope that the lawsuit will receive collective status. Read more here.

Google sued for using user data without their consent

The Australian the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (ACCC) sued the company Google as it personal data advertizing expanded the use of consumers to be shown on sites without their explicit consent. This became known on July 27, 2020.

about the Data activities of non-Google users were related to their names and another identification information stored in Google. This information was previously kept separate from Google user accounts, ACCC officials said.

From June 28, 2016 to December 2018, Google account holders were asked to click "I agree" to a pop-up notice from Google that allegedly explained how the use of personal data was planned to be expanded.

We've introduced some additional features for your account, giving you more control over the data Google collects and how it's used, while allowing the company to show you more relevant ads, the notice said.

According to ACCS, the "I Agree" notice misleads users because they cannot fully understand the changes made by Google and how their data will be used. Many consumers could opt out of allowing Google to combine and use such a range of their personal information for financial gain if given informed choices, ACCC chairman Rod Sims said.

We believe Google has misled Australian consumers about what it plans to do with large amounts of their personal information, including online activity on non-Google sites. The use of this combined information allowed Google to significantly increase the cost of its advertising products, from which it made much greater profits, Sims explained. [9].

Google began taking money from intelligence agencies and police for user data

At the end of January 2020, Google announced that it was starting to take money from special services and the police for user data. One of the main reasons for the innovation was too many requests from the authorities.

Google is increasingly facing requests from government agencies for user information. In response, the internet giant set a price tag for providing authorities with data such as emails, location information and searches. From January 2020, Google begins to charge $45 for involvement in a criminal case, $60 for wiretapping and $245 for a search warrant. This information was detailed in a notice sent to law enforcement and reviewed by The New York Times (NYT).

Google announced that it is starting to take money from special services and police for user data

Laws such as the [Electronic Communications Privacy Act] provide for, that communication service providers will seek compensation for their costs of assisting human rights bodies and participating in criminal cases, - a Google spokesman said Monday in an email to CNET. - - We are seeking reimbursement for our costs, but intend to continue cooperating without charge with law enforcement organizations in cases involving child safety and life-threatening emergencies.

Google is legally allowed to levy similar fees on government agencies, but most tech companies are believed to issue free personal data needed to protect citizens.

Compensation on such a large scale can be difficult. However, as indicated in the NYT article, experts in the field of confidential data protection support such a decision, since it can reduce the risk of abuse of personal information.^[10]

2019

Google and Facebook sell advertisers data on people's emotional state

In early September 2019, Privacy International (PI) investigated more than 100 mental health sites in France, Germany and the UK and concluded that sensitive mental health information was often sold to advertisers by tech companies such as Google and Facebook. Read more here.

Google and Facebook sell advertisers data on people's emotional state

In early September 2019, Privacy International (PI) investigated more than 100 mental health sites in France, Germany and the UK and concluded that sensitive mental health information was often sold to advertisers by tech companies such as Google and Facebook. Read more here.

Australian authorities sue Google for misleading users

On October 30, 2019, it became eternal that the Australian Competition and Consumer Protection Commission sued Google, accusing the American company of "misleading" users about the use of their personal data.

Google has misinformed Android device owners about collecting and using their location data, the regulator said. The company gave them the false feeling that they could turn off geolocation data collection by deactivating the Location History feature in the settings. However, geolocation data is still collected if the Network and Application Activity feature is enabled.

According to the commission, Google did not properly explain to users that both features should be disabled to block location tracking, and thereby misled them.

We are suing Google, since, in our opinion, due to the form of presentation of information on the screen, Google collects, stores and uses extremely sensitive and valuable personal information about the location of users, preventing them from making their choice consciously, the regulator said in a statement.

In its statement of claim, the commission requires Google to pay a fine, admit its error and provide users with clear and reliable information about the use of their data.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Protection Commission is an independent government body subordinate to the Treasury. Australia The Commission is dedicated to protecting consumer rights, business rights and obligations, regulating industry, monitoring prices and preventing illegal anticompetitive behavior. trade ^[11] also empowered to take legal action against companies^[12] misleading^[13]

Google will pay $200 million to collect children's data on YouTube

At the end of August 2019, it became known about a fine of up to $200 million, which the American authorities imposed on Google for collecting children's data on YouTube.

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was investigating after a complaint filed by the privacy protection coalition. According to them, YouTube collects personal information of minors on the Internet, and then uses it for targeted advertising without parental consent.

Google agrees to pay Federal Trade Commission fine of up to $200 million for violating YouTube video hosting laws to protect minors' personal data

The US Center for Digital Democracy considered the fine soft. They believe that Google should have been fined at least $500 million. Such penalties will not solve the problem, said Mark Rotenberg, president of the Electronic Center for Information Privacy.

Such a small amount of the fine is, in fact, a reward for Google, which participated in mass and illegal data collection, not caring about the safety of children, - commented on this information Katarina Kopp, deputy director of the Center for Digital Democracy, which sent a complaint to regulators about the actions of YouTube.

In addition to the fine, Google will have to stop placing targeted ads in videos aimed at children.

In early July 2019, YouTube made significant changes to the service, which should improve the quality of children's content, and at the end of July, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said that one of the main directions for the development of YouTube in the near future will be the development of the YouTubeKids application for children.

Under U.S. law, personal data for children under 13 can only be collected with the consent of their parents. Google has been fined for the second time for violating this rule of the law. True, last time, in 2012, the fine was ten times less, notes The Wall Street Journal.^[14]

Record €50m fine in France for GDPR breach

On January 21, 2019, the French National Commission for Information Technology and Human Rights (CNIL) announced a fine of €50 million on Google for violating the European General Regulation on the Protection of Personal Data (GDPR). We are talking about a record monetary recovery after the introduction of a new law in May 2018.

CNIL concluded that Google does not sufficiently transparently explain the procedure for using users' personal data. In addition, consent to receive personal data is not sufficiently informative and unambiguous.

Google receives record fine in Europe for violating new data law

The regulator indicates that the user is obliged to give his full consent to the processing of Google personal data even before he has the opportunity to customize the personalization of advertising. Thus, the company violates the provisions of GDPR, which requires specific consent in each case. The watchdog added that Google is "counting on the consent" of people.

Key information about the purposes for which the collected data is used, as well as the duration of its storage, is scattered across different documents, which complicates access to it, indicates CNIL. To get to them, users have to click on several links.^[15]

The withheld amount, as well as the publication of the fine, are justified, first of all, by the seriousness of the discovered shortcomings, which relate to the basic principles of the General Regulation on the Protection of Personal Data - transparency and awareness, - quoted by Reuters as a statement by CNIL.

Google was fined at the initiative of activist group None of Your Business, which advocates for the protection of personal data. The same group a few days earlier accused, YouTube,, Netflix, and Amazon Apple Spotify Soundcloud of violating GDPR.

2018: Australia investigation: Android users pay traffic for data Google collects

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACC) is investigating Google over allegations that the company collects data from millions of users - Androidsmartphones who unwittingly have to pay telecommunication service providers for gigabytes of transmitted data. This was reported by the news agency Reuters^[16]

The company has user permission to collect the data, Google officials said in response to the allegations.

"Any cellular data charges, including any location-related data, are subject to the user's tariff plan. The type and amount of data transmitted by the user device will depend on the products or services they use, and in some cases on the settings, "the company said

The investigation began after the company published Oracle a report on the impact of companies Google owned by Alphabet Inc., and on Facebook the Australian advertising market.

As experts in the protection of confidential data noted, most consumers hardly understand what exactly they agree with when registering in a smartphone.

2017

Google accused of illegally collecting data of millions of Britons

A class action lawsuit has been filed in the UK against Google for illegally collecting data from millions of users. A similar lawsuit was filed in the UK for the first time in history, according to BBC Google in November 2017^[17] of^[18].

The plaintiff is the public organization Google You Own Us, headed by the former head of the Which service, Richard Lloyd. The service specializes in providing product and service reviews. According to the lawsuit, Google is accused of illegally collecting information about 5.4 million Britons, bypassing the security settings on their iPhone. According to Lloyd, each of them deserves compensation in the amount of several hundred pounds.

The lawsuit is related to the use of cookies by the American tech giant. According to the document, for several months in 2011-2012, Google placed cookies to track ads on Safari users' devices, where the ability to use such cookies is blocked by default.

The ability to bypass security settings in Safari is already known and affects various devices, but the Google You Own Us lawsuit applies only to British iPhone owners. According to Lloyd, Google is guilty of a massive breach of trust, and the lawsuit filed should be a warning to it and other Silicon Valley companies that users are not afraid to retaliate.

If Lloyd wants to file a class-action lawsuit, he should come to California, according to Google's statement. "It is disappointing that they are trying to hide behind issues of procedures and jurisdictions, instead of being responsible for their actions," the activist said.

Consent to transfer to the US authorities data stored on servers abroad

In March 2018, the House of Representatives - the lower house of Congress, the US Parliament - approved the so-called CLOUD Act. The full name of the law sounds like the Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act, that is, "an act clarifying the legal use of data abroad." CLOUD Act legally allows US law enforcement agencies, in the presence of a court order, to receive from American IT companies the data of US citizens stored by them, wherever this data is located geographically, including abroad.

From a legal point of view, CLOUD Act is a set of amendments to the Stored Communications Act (SCA), adopted in 1986. Before the advent of CLOUD Act, the law allowed law enforcement agencies to require from companies only those data that are physically located in the United States.

Changes in the legislation of the authorities are motivated by the fact that cloud technologies are becoming more widespread, and users are beginning to increasingly practice data storage on remote servers. The immediate reason for the development of new legislation was precisely Microsoft's lawsuit with the government.

The relevant media note that CLOUD Act itself is quite contradictory - it allows companies to demand data stored abroad, but at the same time allows them to challenge this requirement in court if it somehow violates the human rights laws of the country where the information is physically located. In addition, the law allows the US executive branch to negotiate bilaterally with foreign countries to provide the required data.

The law was supported by large companies, including Microsoft Apple. Google However, he is criticized by several human rights groups at once, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation American , the civil liberties union and Human Rights Watch. In their opinion, the right of law enforcement agencies to negotiate directly with foreign powers, bypassing the American judicial system, is a violation of the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution.

2016: Google publishes FBI letters requesting user data for the first time

Google provides an opportunity to look into the world of national security letters for the first time - requests from the FBI demanding data on account owners and keep the fact of such requests secret^[19].

These letters are part of the business for Google and other large Internet companies, but traditionally they have been removed from the right to recognize the existence of such letters. This changed in 2013, when, in light of revelations about internet surveillance by US intelligence agencies, Google and others began to fight for the right to disclose more information about requirements from the FBI.

This led to the creation of a "transparency report" by Google, which showed that every month the company receives thousands of requests from law enforcement agencies around the world regarding user data. The national security letters remained secret, but Google published some of them on Tuesday that are no longer subject to nondisclosure rules.

The eight letters cover the period from March 2010 to September 2015 and contain enquiries about 21 accounts.

The exact email addresses were hidden. On all but one, the username was hidden, in order to show that all these accounts belong to "gmail.com." Only one email address was provided in full, hinting that it may be the address of other email services hosted on Google servers. All the letters are similar. Each of them refers to law 18 US Code § 2709^[20] and indicates the obligation of Google to provide the name, address, term of service and records of electronic transactions related to the account. They note that the FBI is not interested in the topic or content of the email messages sent.

"By fulfilling your obligations in accordance with this letter, please do not disconnect, suspend, block, cancel and interrupt the provision of services," the letter says.

2015

Google has been passing data on Wikileaks employees to the FBI for years

In the British press in early 2015, information appeared that the management of WikiLeaks went to Google with a demand to explain the long-term transfer of information about the personal correspondence of some employees of the site to the FBI. According to reports, information on three employees was transmitted over a three-year period^[21] for^[22].

The court warrant was obtained by Google back in the spring of 2012, it required, without notifying persons, to provide full access to information about accounts, phones and correspondence of three employees of the notorious site. At the same time, users were notified about the transfer of data only in December last year.

WikiLeaks was outraged by this behavior of Google, which for a long time hid the fact of such a transfer, which violated the legal rights of people to protect their privacy. Among the requirements of the online publication are the disclosure of information about the transmitted information, the presence of other requests from the American special services, as well as a list of actions that were taken by Google to ensure the security of its customers.

It is worth noting that this is not the first time that Google is accused of providing the full volume of data about its users at the request of the special services, and the leadership of the American giant does not hide that they will provide all the necessary data for court requests and beyond.

Recall that Julian Assange last fall compared Google with accomplices of special services who are engaged in espionage at the request of the FBI, NSA and other departments. As for Assange himself, he has been hiding in London on the territory of the Ecuadorian Embassy for 2.5 years.

US authorities 50 times more likely to ask Google to disclose data than Russia

Google published statistics on requests for the disclosure of user information for July - December 2015^[23]. During the reporting period, government agencies from all over the world sent 40,677 requests to Internet companies, which concerned 81,311 user accounts, which is 18% more than recorded a year earlier, but only 64% of requests were satisfied. In 2014, authorities demanded the disclosure of information regarding 68,908 users.

The bulk of the requests came from the United States, whose government agencies made 12,523 requests regarding confidential data from 27,157 accounts, with 79% of them receiving a satisfactory response. The second place in the list was taken by Germany, from where 7,491 requests came regarding 11,562 users. Compared to North American colleagues, German services are less effective, only 57% of requests received a meaningful response. The Russian authorities sent only 257 requests regarding 433 users, but only 7% of requests led to the disclosure of data.

The report also states that the number of requests every year is steadily growing. Google representatives attribute this to the growing popularity of their services and the increase in the number of users.

2011: Google passes user data on all requests from US intelligence agencies and completely refuses Russia

In October 2011, it became known that on the day when letters from Alexei Navalny's mailbox to the Gmail.com were published on the Internet, the owner of this service, Google, published statistics on cooperation with the authorities of different countries. In the first half of 2011, 42 requests for data from 47 users were received from Russia. Neither was satisfied. US authorities sent Google 5950 requests for 11,057 users. The company passed on the required data in 93% of cases.

Letters published on the Internet, allegedly from Navalny's mailbox, are dated, among other things, in 2011. For the first half of 2011, Google, as it is clear from the data published by the company, did not satisfy a single request from Russian law enforcement agencies. Probably, the data was obtained through other channels, for example, through Internet providers. Recall that information about the funds collected by Navalny for the RosPil project fell into improper hands after Yandex.Money presented them to law enforcement agencies in response to official requests.

Most often, Google fulfilled the requests of law enforcement officers of the United States, Japan and Brazil, least often - did not fulfill at all - from Russia and Turkey. Data for China is not provided, but requests from China-controlled Hong Kong have been completed 42% of the time.

2001: FBI qualifies for any user data

In 2001, the United States adopted the Anti-Terrorism Act, according to which a new document was introduced into the use of federal services - a letter-requirement for the disclosure of personal confidential information for national security purposes. The difference between a letter and a court warrant is that the letter can be written by FBI or another service on its own, without the participation of a judge. By presenting such a letter to the company, the FBI can access any user data and prohibit management from informing him about it.

Notes