Indians Love Spying on Web Users
Google received 2,319 user data requests from India during the first half of 2012, while the numbers rose to 2,431 in the second half of the year. The number of user accounts associated with such requests rose from 3,467 in the first half to 4,106 in the last six months of 2012.
The company said it regularly receives requests from governments and courts around the world to hand over user data and the number of such requests have increased with growing usage of its services every year.
Regarding the requests for removal of content, Google said that such requests are also received regularly by it from government agencies and courts around the world.
"Governments ask companies to remove content for many different reasons. For example, some content removals are requested due to allegations of defamation, while others are due to allegations that the content violates local laws prohibiting hate speech or adult content," it said.
In respect of content removal requests from India, Google said: "In response to a court order, we removed 360 search results (during first half of 2012). The search results linked to 360 web pages that contained adult videos that allegedly violated an individual's personal privacy."
As per the latest available data, Google received requests from India for removal of 487 items through court orders during January-June 2012, while another 109 items were requested to be removed through police or executive orders.
