UPDATED: May 27, 2025
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 201 countries over 11.5 years (between 2013 and mid-2024). 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.
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Governments request more user data than ever. In 2020, there were a total of 1.3M requested accounts. By 2023, this number grew by 63% to 2.1M, with the first half of 2024 indicating a record year ahead.
The US and EU authorities request data the most. They account for 55% of all interest accounts from 2013 to mid-2024. Comparatively, the US requested over twice as many accounts per 100K people as all the EU countries.
Companies have steadily increased their disclosure rate with government requests for user data year over year. Between 2013 and 2021, disclosure was, on average, 70%, while from 2022 to mid-2024, the average disclosure rate increased to 78%.
Government requests for user data expected to reach new heights
Government requests for user data are increasing, with 2024 on track to reach new heights. In 2013, there were a total of 293K requested accounts. By 2020, this number had grown to nearly 1.3M; in 2022, it hit a record high of over 2.2M. In 2023, there was a decline of 6% to around 2M requested accounts. However, the first half of 2024 indicates a further increase, with more than 1M requested accounts already, accounting for 53% of the record year 2022 total. The 2024 data does not include requests made to Apple, as it is not yet available, but Apple accounted for 119K requested accounts in 2023 and 438K in 2022.
Since 2020, 190 governments have requested a total of 8.4M accounts. The countries with the highest number of requests are the USA (33%), India (21%), Brazil (13%), Germany (8%), the UK (3.2%), France (3.2%), South Korea (2.8%), Poland (1.9%), Spain (1.2%), and Italy (0.9%). The rest of the countries account for 12% of the requested accounts.
From 2013 to mid-2024, authorities showed the most interest in accounts hosted by Meta, with requests totaling 5.2M, or 43% of the 12.1M accounts requested during this period. Google was in second place with 4.7M requests, 39%. In contrast, Apple’s accounts constituted the smallest fraction requested, with 1M accounts, or just 8% of the total. Microsoft had 1.2M account requests, which amounted to 10%.
Requests for account data
The heatmap shows the total number of accounts specified in user data requests (per 100,000 people) that each country’s government institution submitted from 2013 to mid-2024.
Countries with a population of less than 1M were not included.
12,115,772
Meta, Google, Microsoft, and Apple received user data requests for this number of accounts from 201 countries from 2013 to mid-2024.
5,489,780
In 2022, 2023, and mid-2024, user data requests affected this number of accounts, constituting 45% of the 11.5-year total.
4,195,358
US authorities requested user data for this number of accounts from 2013 to mid-2024, making up nearly 35% of the total account requests.
The US and EU governments request user data the most
From 2013 to mid-2024, the US led the list with one account per 100K people. In the top 10 countries, the Europe region contributed 6 (Germany, the UK, France, Ireland, Poland, and Switzerland), while the US, Singapore, Brazil, and South Korea made up the remainder.
Countries with a population of less than 1M were not included in the ranking.
| Country | Population (2023) |
Accounts specified in requests (2013-2024) |
Accounts per 100k population (2013-2024) |
Sub-region |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. US | 342,475,000 | 4,195,360 | 1225 | North America |
| 2. Germany | 84,401,000 | 992,413 | 1175.8 | Europe |
| 3. Singapore | 5,766,000 | 51,076 | 885.8 | Asia |
| 4. UK | 68,443,000 | 542,755 | 793 | Europe |
| 5. France | 66,381,000 | 489,511 | 737.4 | Europe |
| 6. Brazil | 210,707,000 | 1,337,680 | 634.9 | South America |
| 7. Ireland | 5,166,000 | 32,397 | 627.1 | Europe |
| 8. Poland | 38,814,000 | 205,849 | 530.3 | Europe |
| 9. South Korea | 51,759,000 | 273,337 | 528.1 | Asia |
| 10. Switzerland | 8,843,000 | 45,639 | 516.1 | Europe |
| 11. Belgium | 11,698,000 | 57,627 | 492.6 | Europe |
| 12. Taiwan | 2,337,0000 | 112,834 | 482.8 | Asia |
| 13. Australia | 26,321,000 | 123,558 | 469.4 | Oceania |
| 14. Portugal | 10,431,000 | 46,884 | 449.5 | Europe |
| 15. Israel | 9,191,000 | 40,051 | 435.8 | Asia |
| 16. Austria | 9,136,000 | 38,047 | 416.5 | Europe |
| 17. Sweden | 10,522,000 | 42,590 | 404.8 | Europe |
| 18. Estonia | 1,367,000 | 5,499 | 402.3 | Europe |
| 19. Spain | 47,907,000 | 153,949 | 321.4 | Europe |
| 20. Lithuania | 2,841,000 | 8,686 | 305.7 | Europe |
| 21. Italy | 59,564,000 | 159,790 | 268.3 | Europe |
| 22. Netherlands | 18,019,000 | 45,868 | 254.6 | Europe |
| 23. Greece | 10,349,000 | 26,282 | 254 | Europe |
| 24. Norway | 5,489,000 | 13,721 | 250 | Europe |
| 25. Finland | 559,0000 | 12,530 | 224.2 | Europe |
| 26. Argentina | 45,459,000 | 98,523 | 216.7 | South America |
| 27. Hungary | 9,683,000 | 19,315 | 199.5 | Europe |
| 28. Canada | 3,906,0000 | 75,494 | 193.3 | North America |
| 29. Bosnia and Herzegovina | 3,194,000 | 5,862 | 183.5 | Europe |
| 30. Czechia | 10,828,000 | 19,745 | 182.4 | Europe |
| 31. Turkey | 87,169,000 | 158,910 | 182.3 | Asia |
| 32. New Zealand | 5,151,000 | 881 | 170.5 | Oceania |
| 33. UAE | 10,445,000 | 16,618 | 159.1 | Asia |
| 34. India | 1,431,700,000 | 2,099,990 | 146.7 | Asia |
| 35. Hong Kong | 7,452,000 | 10,114 | 135.7 | Asia |
| 36. North Macedonia | 1,836,000 | 2,230 | 121.5 | Europe |
| 37. Chile | 19,603,000 | 23,809 | 121.5 | South America |
| 38. Denmark | 5,932,000 | 6,900 | 116.3 | Europe |
| 39. Serbia | 6,788,000 | 7,524 | 110.8 | Europe |
| 40. Romania | 19,169,000 | 19,424 | 101.3 | Europe |
| 41. Latvia | 1,885,000 | 1,898 | 100.7 | Europe |
| 42. Colombia | 52,033,000 | 50,882 | 97.8 | South America |
| 43. Croatia | 3,903,000 | 3,431 | 87.9 | Europe |
| 44. Ecuador | 17,902,000 | 15,670 | 87.5 | South America |
| 45. Mexico | 129,171,000 | 105,431 | 81.6 | North America |
| 46. Jordan | 11,347,000 | 8,472 | 74.7 | Asia |
| 47. Georgia | 3,807,000 | 2,549 | 67 | Asia |
| 48. Slovenia | 2,118,000 | 1,414 | 66.8 | Europe |
| 49. Albania | 2,822,000 | 1,843 | 65.3 | Europe |
| 50. Guatemala | 17,984,000 | 10,895 | 60.6 | North America |
| 51. Bulgaria | 6,813,000 | 3,896 | 57.2 | Europe |
| 52. Uruguay | 3,389,000 | 1,861 | 54.9 | South America |
| 53. Kosovo | 1,709,000 | 793 | 46.4 | Europe |
| 54. Costa Rica | 5,093,000 | 2,112 | 41.5 | North America |
| 55. Cyprus | 1,338,000 | 516 | 38.6 | Asia |
| 56. Japan | 124,671,000 | 44,275 | 35.5 | Asia |
| 57. Dominican Republic | 11,283,000 | 3,594 | 31.9 | North America |
| 58. Nepal | 29,715,000 | 9,117 | 30.7 | Asia |
| 59. Slovakia | 5,517,000 | 1,638 | 29.7 | Europe |
| 60. Moldova | 3,081,000 | 684 | 22.2 | Europe |
| 61. Peru | 33,656,000 | 6,566 | 19.5 | South America |
| 62. Panama | 4,430,000 | 843 | 19 | North America |
| 63. Armenia | 2,902,000 | 446 | 15.4 | Asia |
| 64. Pakistan | 245,673,000 | 34,622 | 14.1 | Asia |
| 65. Paraguay | 6,802,000 | 855 | 12.6 | South America |
| 66. Morocco | 37,524,000 | 4,597 | 12.3 | Africa |
| 67. Ukraine | 38,024,000 | 4,638 | 12.2 | Europe |
| 68. Mauritius | 1,275,000 | 145 | 11.4 | Africa |
| 69. Sri Lanka | 22,905,000 | 2,215 | 9.7 | Asia |
| 70. El Salvador | 6,295,000 | 576 | 9.2 | North America |
| 71. Mongolia | 341,0000 | 291 | 8.5 | Asia |
| 72. Malaysia | 34,908,000 | 2,712 | 7.8 | Asia |
| 73. Qatar | 2,946,000 | 223 | 7.6 | Asia |
| 74. Thailand | 71,716,000 | 5,208 | 7.3 | Asia |
| 75. Bangladesh | 170,427,000 | 11,993 | 7 | Asia |
| 76. China | 1,424,260,000 | 97,044 | 6.8 | Asia |
| 77. Russia | 145,675,000 | 8,081 | 5.5 | Europe |
| 78. Kuwait | 4,793,000 | 239 | 5 | Asia |
| 79. Azerbaijan | 10,332,000 | 327 | 3.2 | Asia |
| 80. Belarus | 9,145,000 | 239 | 2.6 | Europe |
| 81. Libya | 7,269,000 | 185 | 2.5 | Africa |
| 82. Philippines | 114,411,000 | 2,823 | 2.5 | Asia |
| 83. Lebanon | 5,761,000 | 120 | 2.1 | Asia |
| 84. Palestine | 5,368,000 | 108 | 2 | Asia |
| 85. Indonesia | 280,026,000 | 5,408 | 1.9 | Asia |
| 86. Tunisia | 12,161,000 | 227 | 1.9 | Africa |
| 87. Burkina Faso | 22,766,000 | 379 | 1.7 | Africa |
| 88. South Africa | 62,797,000 | 1,026 | 1.6 | Africa |
| 89. Bahrain | 1,552,000 | 25 | 1.6 | Asia |
| 90. Trinidad and Tobago | 1,500,000 | 24 | 1.6 | North America |
| 91. Kyrgyzstan | 7,016,000 | 105 | 1.5 | Asia |
| 92. Oman | 4,933,000 | 70 | 1.4 | Asia |
| 93. Honduras | 10,554,000 | 140 | 1.3 | North America |
| 94. Botswana | 2,460,000 | 32 | 1.3 | Africa |
| 95. Bolivia | 12,159,000 | 153 | 1.3 | South America |
| 96. Eswatini | 1,225,000 | 15 | 1.2 | Africa |
| 97. Jamaica | 2,840,000 | 32 | 1.1 | North America |
| 98. Kazakhstan | 20,196,000 | 220 | 1.1 | Asia |
| 99. Venezuela | 28,251,000 | 252 | 0.9 | South America |
| 100. Kenya | 54,794,000 | 410 | 0.7 | Africa |
| 101. Cambodia | 17,315,000 | 118 | 0.7 | Asia |
| 102. Iraq | 44,590,000 | 279 | 0.6 | Asia |
| 103. Iran | 90,103,000 | 554 | 0.6 | Asia |
| 104. Ivory Coast | 30,784,000 | 173 | 0.6 | Africa |
| 105. Senegal | 17,867,000 | 90 | 0.5 | Africa |
| 106. Ghana | 33,467,000 | 162 | 0.5 | Africa |
| 107. Sudan | 50,037,000 | 191 | 0.4 | Africa |
| 108. Nigeria | 225,495,000 | 843 | 0.4 | Africa |
| 109. Puerto Rico | 3,240,000 | 11 | 0.3 | North America |
| 110. Algeria | 45,831,000 | 154 | 0.3 | Africa |
| 111. Malawi | 20,833,000 | 49 | 0.2 | Africa |
| 112. Egypt | 113,493,000 | 264 | 0.2 | Africa |
| 113. Madagascar | 30,813,000 | 71 | 0.2 | Africa |
| 114. Sierra Leone | 8,368,000 | 19 | 0.2 | Africa |
| 115. Lesotho | 2,298,000 | 5 | 0.2 | Africa |
| 116. Nicaragua | 6,777,000 | 13 | 0.2 | North America |
| 117. Namibia | 2,928,000 | 5 | 0.2 | Africa |
| 118. Zambia | 20,430,000 | 32 | 0.2 | Africa |
| 119. Vietnam | 100,029,000 | 155 | 0.2 | Asia |
| 120. Saudi Arabia | 32,867,000 | 50 | 0.2 | Asia |
| 121. Timor-Leste | 1,377,000 | 2 | 0.1 | Asia |
| 122. Gambia | 2,667,000 | 3 | 0.1 | Africa |
| 123. Cameroon | 27,998,000 | 30 | 0.1 | Africa |
| 124. Uganda | 47,981,000 | 50 | 0.1 | Africa |
| 125. Benin | 13,934,000 | 13 | 0.1 | Africa |
| 126. Djibouti | 1,145,000 | 1 | 0.1 | Africa |
| 127. Uzbekistan | 35,294,000 | 23 | 0.1 | Asia |
| 128. Papua New Guinea | 10,296,000 | 6 | 0.1 | Oceania |
| 129. Turkmenistan | 7,298,000 | 4 | 0.1 | Asia |
| 130. Togo | 9,196,000 | 5 | 0.1 | Africa |
| 131. North Korea | 26,376,000 | 12 | 0 | Asia |
| 132. Rwanda | 13,803,000 | 6 | 0 | Africa |
| 133. Liberia | 5,433,000 | 2 | 0 | Africa |
| 134. Guinea | 14,229,000 | 5 | 0 | Africa |
| 135. Afghanistan | 40,865,000 | 14 | 0 | Asia |
| 136. Tajikistan | 10,288,000 | 3 | 0 | Asia |
| 137. Mozambique | 33,141,000 | 8 | 0 | Africa |
| 138. Congo DR | 104,063,000 | 22 | 0 | Africa |
| 139. Mauritania | 4,948,000 | 1 | 0 | Africa |
| 139. Myanmar | 53,947,000 | 11 | 0 | Asia |
| 141. Mali | 23,416,000 | 4 | 0 | Africa |
| 142. Niger | 25,727,000 | 4 | 0 | Africa |
| 143. Zimbabwe | 16,203,000 | 2 | 0 | Africa |
| 144. South Sudan | 11,147,000 | 1 | 0 | Africa |
| 144. Haiti | 11,570,000 | 1 | 0 | North America |
| 144. Tanzania | 65,657,000 | 6 | 0 | Africa |
| 147. Angola | 36,187,000 | 2 | 0 | Africa |
| 147. Somalia | 18,031,000 | 1 | 0 | Africa |
| 149. Chad | 18,768,000 | 1 | 0 | Africa |
| 149. Yemen | 38,794,000 | 2 | 0 | Asia |
| 151. Syria | 23,015,000 | 1 | 0 | Asia |
Emergency data requests: volume, growth, and country breakdown
Emergency requests are typically made in situations where there is an imminent threat to life or serious physical harm, such as suicide threats, kidnappings, bomb threats, or school shootings. The goal is to quickly obtain critical information that could help prevent harm or save lives. Emergency requests are made by government or law enforcement agencies to access user data without the usual legal process, such as a subpoena or court order. Google, Microsoft, and Apple provide information about the number of emergency requests they receive, while Meta doesn't specify it.
Since 2013, a total of 153K account data requests have been made in cases of emergency. The United Kingdom accounts for the highest percentage of emergency data requests globally, making up 26% of all such requests. The United States follows with 22%. The United Arab Emirates accounts for 10.5%, which is notable considering its smaller population compared to countries like India (2.3%) or Germany (2%). The other top requesting countries are Brazil (6%), Canada (3.4%), Israel (3.2%), Bosnia and Herzegovina (2.6%), and Ukraine (1.9%). The remaining countries account for 20%.
Google received 85% of all emergency requests and was the only company reporting them between 2013 and 2015. The number of emergency requests has skyrocketed over the years:
- In 2013, Google received 392 requests;
- By 2020, this number had increased to 15K, which is nearly 38 times higher;
- In 2023, it grew by another 70% to reach 25.5K.
This upward trend is expected to continue, as the first quarter of 2024 alone has already seen 15K requests. Apple accounted for 10% of emergency requests, and Microsoft for 5%. Both companies have shown similar trends to Google’s.
Company-level disclosure rate regarding government requests for user data
Apple
Since 2013, 95 governments have submitted requests for user data. Apple maintained the highest disclosure rate from 2016 to 2022, increasing it from 76% in 2016 to 83% in 2022. Although the disclosure rates of other companies increased in 2023, Apple's rate declined, dropping to 79%. The US has submitted more than half (58%) of all the requests that Apple has complied with.
Google
Since 2013, 154 governments have submitted requests for user data. Until 2016, Google’s disclosure rate decreased from 65% to 62%, but then it started to climb by a few percentage points yearly, reaching 82% in mid-2024. This makes Google currently the company with the highest disclosure rate.
Meta
Since 2013, 184 governments have submitted requests for user data. Meta disclosed 76-77% of the requested information from 2022 to mid-2024, marking a 5% point increase from 2021. This places the company right behind Google.
Microsoft
Since 2013, 95 governments have submitted requests for user data. Microsoft’s disclosure rate decreased over nine years, from 79% in 2013 to 55% in 2021. Since then, it has increased to 66% by mid-2024, marking the most significant increase among the companies analyzed during this period. Despite this increase, Microsoft has remained the company that discloses the least user information since 2018.
Methodology
The Report on Government Requests for User Data uses information from transparency reports published by four major tech companies — Apple, Google, Meta, and Microsoft. 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 201 countries have requested user data from these companies between 2013 and mid-2024.
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;
- User data requests were classified into two categories: legal and emergency;
- 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 total world population.