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UPDATED: 27th of August, 2024

Report on Government
Requests for User Data

The Surfshark research hub analyzed user data requests that Apple, Google, Meta, and Microsoft received from government agencies of 190 countries over 10 years (between 2013 and 2022). While most requests relate to criminal investigations, government agencies may also request information for civil or administrative cases. As a data request can cover multiple accounts, the research examines the number of accounts specified in these requests and their global distribution per population. It also compares the number of requests disclosed partially or fully.

Governments request more user data than ever

Governments request more user data than ever. They have been requesting data from an increasing number of accounts each year, with the requests growing close to 8 times from 2013 to 2022, with 2022 experiencing an increase of around 38% from the previous year.

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Governments request more user data than ever

The US and the EU authorities request data the most. They are accounting for 58% of all accounts of interest from 2013 to 2022. Comparatively, the US requested over 2 times more accounts per 100K people than all the EU countries.

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Governments request more user data than ever

Companies have steadily increased their compliance year over year. On average, over the last 10 years there was a 65K increase in disclosed requests each year, but in 2022, the increase exceeded 100K — growing from 127K in 2013 to 712K in 2022.

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Government requests for user data continue to increase year-over-year

Each year, the number of accounts requested increases steadily. It has grown almost 8 times from 2013 to 2022, with a 38% increase observed in 2022 compared to the year before. Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, Greece, Hungary, Israel, India, Mexico, Poland, and the US also show a steady year-over-year increase in the count of requested accounts.

In 2022, the number of requested accounts experienced the most significant year-over-year increase of 38%, going from 1.6M to 2.2M. This increase does not come as a surprise since 2022 set a record for the number of governments, totaling 147, that requested user data. For comparison, in 2021, 140 governments submitted requests for user data.

On a company level, in 2022, Apple experienced the highest increase in account requests, with a 479% surge. From 2013 to 2022, authorities showed the most interest in accounts hosted by Meta among the four companies, totaling 3.6M or 41% of the 8.9M accounts requested during this period. In contrast, Apple’s accounts constituted the smallest fraction requested, with 853.7K accounts or just 10% of the total accounts of interest to the authorities.

Requests for account data

The heatmap shows the total number of accounts specified in user data requests (per 100,000 people) each country’s government institution submitted from 2013 to 2022. 

8,851,344 Apple, Google, Meta, and Microsoft received user data requests for this number of accounts from 190 countries from 2013 to 2022.
2,225,291 in 2022 alone, user data requests affected this number of accounts, constituting 25% of the 10-year total.
3,338,876 US authorities requested user data for this number of accounts from 2013 to 2022, making up nearly 38% of the total account requests.

The US and the EU governments request user data the most

The US led the list with 1 account per 100 people throughout 2013-2022. In the top 10 countries, the EU contributed 5 (Germany, France, Ireland, Portugal, and Belgium), while the US, Singapore, the UK, South Korea, and Brazil made up the remainder.

Countries with a population of less than 1M were not included in the ranking.

CountryPopulation
(2021)
Accounts specified in requests
(2013-2021)
Accounts per 100k population
(2013-2021)
Region
1. US337,499,4793,338,876989.3Northern America
2. Germany83,426,789709,411850.3Western Europe
3. Singapore5,955,90141,460696.1South-eastern Asia
4. UK67,394,305453,176672.4Northern Europe
5. France64,560,542397,802616.2Western Europe
6. Ireland5,005,88828,361566.6Northern Europe
7. South Korea51,829,025215,125415.1Eastern Asia
8. Portugal10,282,22242,637414.7Southern Europe
9. Brazil214,824,774838,289390.2Latin America and the Caribbean
10. Belgium11,640,67944,408381.5Western Europe
11. Estonia1,327,6004,949372.8Northern Europe
12. Australia26,046,25696,342369.9Australia and New Zealand
13. Taiwan23,877,79188,159369.2Eastern Asia
14. Poland38,236,684138,236361.5Eastern Europe
15. Switzerland8,712,01830,411349.1Western Europe
16. Israel8,970,73329,177325.2Western Asia
17. Sweden10,517,66929,831283.6Northern Europe
18. Italy59,119,400137,958233.4Southern Europe
19. Norway5,414,31912,517231.2Northern Europe
20. Spain47,576,210108,727228.5Southern Europe
21. Lithuania2,768,6686,096220.2Northern Europe
22. Austria8,929,71619,150214.5Western Europe
23. Netherlands17,536,55337,512213.9Western Europe
24. Greece10,409,61220,335195.3Southern Europe
25. Turkey85,091,633143,788169Western Asia
26. Argentina45,389,93775,887167.2Latin America and the Caribbean
27. Canada38,290,84655,542145.1Northern America
28. Finland5,538,2637,722139.4Northern Europe
29. New Zealand5,163,6847,184139.1Australia and New Zealand
30. Hong Kong7,489,14910,032134Eastern Asia
31. Hungary9,688,54712,894133.1Eastern Europe
32. Czechia10,497,50513,852132Eastern Europe
33. Chile19,592,42820,271103.5Latin America and the Caribbean
34. Denmark5,867,9775,53294.3Northern Europe
35. India1,412,319,8171,261,18889.3Southern Asia
36. North Macedonia2,098,5411,78585.1Southern Europe
37. Serbia7,261,5914,82466.4Southern Europe
38. Latvia1,860,9781,12560.5Northern Europe
39. Slovenia2,119,7891,28160.4Southern Europe
40. Mexico127,024,13476,35160.1Latin America and the Caribbean
41. Croatia4,041,1712,27356.2Southern Europe
42. Romania19,262,7739,71150.4Eastern Europe
43. Colombia51,788,82723,07344.6Latin America and the Caribbean
44. Jordan11,256,1904,89543.5Western Asia
45. Bosnia and Herzegovina3,246,0451,39342.9Southern Europe
46. Guatemala17,722,7027,24940.9Latin America and the Caribbean
47. Kosovo1,657,76061537.1Southern Europe
48. Costa Rica5,167,0631,73233.5Latin America and the Caribbean
49. Cyprus1,247,08041233Western Asia
50. Ecuador17,905,4465,64431.5Latin America and the Caribbean
51. Dominican Republic11,175,7673,09727.7Latin America and the Caribbean
52. Japan124,278,31029,97924.1Eastern Asia
53. Slovakia5,439,4351,26423.2Eastern Europe
54. Uruguay3,422,61778723Latin America and the Caribbean
55. Albania2,847,85358120.4Southern Europe
56. Nepal30,371,9514,91516.2Southern Asia
57. Moldova3,048,34348816Eastern Europe
58. Bulgaria6,833,6211,06515.6Eastern Europe
59. Armenia2,783,22640614.6Western Asia
60. Peru33,911,7124,68413.8Latin America and the Caribbean
61. Georgia3,753,31947212.6Western Asia
62. Pakistan233,523,61228,74712.3Southern Asia
63. Panama4,379,28252311.9Latin America and the Caribbean
64. Paraguay6,743,2475998.9Latin America and the Caribbean
65. Russia144,732,51611,3207.8Eastern Europe
66. Morocco37,264,4692,8287.6Northern Africa
67. Sri Lanka21,799,8841,5367Southern Asia
68. China1,425,925,38695,6436.7Eastern Asia
69. Mongolia3,373,3582186.5Eastern Asia
70. El Salvador6,323,7953926.2Latin America and the Caribbean
71. Malaysia33,751,3991,6224.8South-eastern Asia
72. Ukraine43,334,2042,0394.7Eastern Europe
73. UAE9,403,2614324.6Western Asia
74. Kuwait4,247,7001714Western Asia
75. Qatar2,684,330963.6Western Asia
76. Bangladesh170,297,5946,0553.6Southern Asia
77. Thailand71,640,2512,2773.2South-eastern Asia
78. Azerbaijan10,329,6102282.2Western Asia
79. Lebanon5,553,9371122Western Asia
80. Belarus9,549,8981781.9Eastern Europe
81. Palestine5,189,966891.7Western Asia
82. Bahrain1,465,626221.5Western Asia
83. Trinidad and Tobago1,528,932221.4Latin America and the Caribbean
84. Eswatini1,197,454141.2Sub-Saharan Africa
85. Indonesia274,616,2893,1001.1South-eastern Asia
86. Honduras10,354,9551161.1Latin America and the Caribbean
87. Oman4,543,281471Western Asia
88. Botswana2,607,583261Sub-Saharan Africa
89. Tunisia12,308,6971110.9Northern Africa
90. Kazakhstan19,295,5021470.8Central Asia
91. Venezuela28,047,6582020.7Latin America and the Caribbean
92. South Africa59,646,8004230.7Sub-Saharan Africa
93. Philippines114,666,3246910.6South-eastern Asia
94. Kenya53,499,8793180.6Sub-Saharan Africa
95. Ivory Coast27,810,4911620.6Sub-Saharan Africa
96. Mauritius1,299,13470.5Sub-Saharan Africa
97. Iraq43,996,1692320.5Western Asia
98. Sudan46,261,4991870.4Northern Africa
99. Bolivia12,148,966480.4Latin America and the Caribbean
100. Jamaica2,828,991110.4Latin America and the Caribbean
101. Senegal17,096,667560.3Sub-Saharan Africa
102. Puerto Rico3,249,14490.3Latin America and the Caribbean
103. Madagascar29,260,083690.2Sub-Saharan Africa
104. Sierra Leone8,513,550190.2Sub-Saharan Africa
105. Nigeria215,928,4314770.2Sub-Saharan Africa
106. Malawi20,146,243400.2Sub-Saharan Africa
107. Ghana33,154,506570.2Sub-Saharan Africa
108. Timor-Leste1,331,64820.1South-eastern Asia
109. Nicaragua6,898,994100.1Latin America and the Caribbean
110. Saudi Arabia36,136,551500.1Western Asia
111. Namibia2,549,18230.1Sub-Saharan Africa
112. Vietnam97,842,2831050.1South-eastern Asia
113. Egypt110,132,8061120.1Northern Africa
114. Cambodia16,680,606160.1South-eastern Asia
115. Zambia19,745,738180.1Sub-Saharan Africa
116. Djibouti1,113,14710.1Sub-Saharan Africa
117. Burkina Faso22,388,008200.1Sub-Saharan Africa
118. Algeria44,543,592390.1Northern Africa
119. Benin13,174,363110.1Sub-Saharan Africa
120. Papua New Guinea10,048,41260.1Melanesia
121. Togo8,746,73450.1Sub-Saharan Africa
122. Iran88,256,642450.1Southern Asia
123. Uzbekistan34,353,048170Central Asia
124. Lesotho2,294,31310Sub-Saharan Africa
124. Rwanda13,618,38360Sub-Saharan Africa
126. Guinea13,695,09350Sub-Saharan Africa
127. Cameroon27,552,21290Sub-Saharan Africa
128. Uganda46,584,197150Sub-Saharan Africa
129. Libya6,774,69820Northern Africa
129. Afghanistan40,580,490120Southern Asia
131. Congo DR97,413,858220Sub-Saharan Africa
132. Tajikistan9,856,53120Central Asia
133. Myanmar53,977,744100South-eastern Asia
133. Liberia5,245,85310Sub-Saharan Africa
135. Mozambique32,518,41860Sub-Saharan Africa
136. Turkmenistan6,387,20010Central Asia
137. Mali22,248,66730Sub-Saharan Africa
138. South Sudan10,829,53210Sub-Saharan Africa
139. North Korea26,022,11720Eastern Asia
140. Chad17,449,26210Sub-Saharan Africa
140. Tanzania64,539,59840Sub-Saharan Africa
140. Angola35,049,57220Sub-Saharan Africa
140. Somalia17,329,99210Sub-Saharan Africa
144. Syria21,589,58610Western Asia
145. Niger25,719,85710Sub-Saharan Africa
146. Yemen33,322,32110Western Asia

Companies submit user data for the majority of requests

Between 2013 and 2022, companies complied with user data requests at an average rate of 72%. Over the years, the compliance rate (partial or full disclosure) with user data requests ranged from 66% in 2015 to 77% in 2022. Apple complied with government requests the most and submitted user data for around 82.0% of requests, while Microsoft complied the least, with a rate of 67%.

Company-level disclosure rate

Apple
Since 2013, 90 governments have submitted requests for user data. Apple has maintained the highest rate of disclosure since 2016, increasing it from 76% in 2016 to 86% in 2021. Although the disclosure rates of other companies increased in 2022, Apple's rate experienced a decline, dropping to 83%. The US have submitted more than half (58%) of all the requests that Apple has complied with.
Google
Since 2013, 140 governments have submitted requests for user data. Until 2016, Google’s disclosure rate decreased, but then it started to climb by a few percentage points yearly. It reached its peak at 79% in 2022, making Google the 2nd highest in disclosures behind Apple that year.
Meta
Since 2013, 177 governments have submitted requests for user data. Meta disclosed over 76% of the requested information in 2022, marking a 4% points increase from 2021. This places the company right behind Google.
Microsoft
Since 2013, 93 governments have submitted requests for user data. Microsoft’s disclosure rate has been decreasing throughout the nine-year period, yet it saw an increase of 5% points in 2022. This increase is the largest among the companies analyzed so far. Despite this, Microsoft remains the company that discloses the least user information.

Methodology

The Report on Government Requests for User Data uses information from transparency reports that four major tech companies — Apple, Google, Meta, and Microsoft — have published. Amazon, while also part of the “Big Five,” is not included in the study due to its inconsistent or absent reporting on user data disclosure practices. The study highlights that government agencies from 190 countries have requested user data from these companies between 2013 and 2022.

The collected data was aggregated and analyzed in five major categories:

  • User data requests received
  • Partially or fully disclosed requests
  • Percentages of disclosed requests
  • Accounts specified within these requests
  • Requested accounts per 100,000 people in each country

We excluded the countries with less than 1M people from the ranking because these countries often stand out as outliers in global distribution per population metrics due to their small population numbers. Excluding countries and territories with smaller populations than 1M does not significantly impact global statistics, as such countries account for less than 1% of the global population.

Full research material and notes on company-level data

Download all charts and visuals

Data sources:

Population data
Transparency reports: