Facebook got 49,000 requests for user data from the Indian government in 2019 ⁠— that’s the most after US

• India made over 49,000 requests for user information from Facebook in 2019.
• Out of these requests, 3,369 were emergency requests.
• Facebook has reported a 9.5% increase in government requests for user information from across the world.

Facebook released its transparency report on Tuesday , revealing the requests for user data from across the world in 2019. As per this report, India continued to be the second highest requestor for user data from Facebook, after the US.

As per Facebook, government requests for user data from across the world increased by 9.5% in the second half of 2019.

“During the last six months of 2019, government requests for user data increased by 9.5% from 1,28,617 to 1,40,875. Of the total volume, the US continues to submit the largest number of requests, followed by India, the UK, Germany and France.” said Chris Sonderby, VP & Deputy General Counsel, Facebook.

India requested user data over 49,000 times

In the first half of 2019, India made 22,684 requests for user information and this increased to 26,698 requests in the second half of the year. However, Facebook produced data only for 15,206 accounts.

Out of the total requests made in the second half of 2019, 24,944 were legal requests and 1,754 were emergency requests.

While legal requests are accompanied by a legal process, like a search warrant, emergency requests are submitted without legal process when there is an imminent risk.

“In emergencies, law enforcement may submit requests without legal process. Based on the circumstances, we may voluntarily disclose information to law enforcement where we have a good faith reason to believe that the matter involves imminent risk of serious physical injury or death.” Facebook said in its post.

The requests for user data increased by almost 30% from around 37,000 requests in 2018 to over 49,000 requests in 2019. However, the increased government requests have led to lesser content takedowns in 2019. While around 19,000 posts were taken down in 2018, this fell to around 2,100 posts in 2019.

India also asked Facebook to preserve 4,700 accounts in 2019, of which around 2,500 requests were made in the second half. A preservation request is made while the legal proceedings are underway.

“When we receive a preservation request, we will preserve a temporary snapshot of the relevant account information but will not disclose any of the preserved records unless and until we receive formal and valid legal process.” said Facebook.

See also:

Facebook reportedly agrees to pay $52 million to moderators who developed PTSD while helping the company police toxic content on its platform

Facebook asks for users' data to generate COVID-19 'heat maps'

Facebook created more than 10,000 'hateful memes' to help researchers learn how to spot hate speech