Facebook Latest News, Update: Government Requests For Facebook Data Surge

According to a Facebook bi-annual report released this week, in the first half of 2016, Governments all over the world requested Facebook for user data nearly 60,000 times, an increase of 27 percent as compared to the second half of 2015.

The report also dealt with the requests Facebook received to remove content from its pages which violated local laws. This dropped to over 84 percent as compared to similar period last year in spite of political turmoil. Although, most of the requests in the previous period were related to restrictions of a single image from the November 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris.

A total of 23,854 requests for user data came from law enforcement agencies in the US. Out of these the most common requests were related to search warrants-13,742. Subpoenas and IP address traces were few other categories in the US. Most of the requests from US law enforcement contained a non-disclosure agreement, meaning that users would not be notified. Requests were also made under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)- nearly 499 requests. For FISA requests, there is a prohibition on disclosing detailed figures and companies are also required to delay reporting the aggregate figures for at least six months.

Before giving out information against requests received, the company carefully examines each request to decide whether it holds merit or not. This process is especially stringent in emergency cases, where the company shares relevant information to law enforcement if the matter involves "imminent risk of serious injury or death." This is a newly added category in the to the disclosure process.

"We do not provide governments with 'back doors' or direct access to people's information," Facebook Deputy General Counsel wrote in a blog post. "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."