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2013
  • 5,259
  • 85,148
  • 77,774
  • 125,215

UPDATED: MARCH 14TH, 2023

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 177 countries between 2013 and 2021. While most requests relate to criminal investigations, information may also be requested in the context of civil or administrative cases. As a data request can cover multiple accounts, the research examines the number of accounts specified in these requests, examines their global distribution per population, and compares the number of partially or fully disclosed requests.

Governments request more user data than ever

Governments request more user data than ever. The number of accounts requested increased more than five times from 2013 to 2021, with 2021 seeing a year-over-year increase of around 25%.

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Governments request more user data than ever

The US and the EU authorities request data the most. Both account for around 60% of all accounts of interest from 2013 to 2021. To compare the two, the US requested more than double the accounts per 100K people than all the EU countries combined.

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Governments request more user data than ever

Companies comply with more requests every year. On average, each year saw a 56k increase in disclosed requests, growing from 127k in 2013 to 592k in 2021.

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

Total number of accounts requested (2013-2021)
  • Apple
  • Google
  • Meta
  • Microsoft
2021
  • 75,550
  • 732,773
  • 716,108
  • 92,161
2020
  • 84,604
  • 496,633
  • 610,677
  • 96,909
2019
  • 81,758
  • 340,762
  • 427,858
  • 86,699
2018
  • 64,045
  • 261,892
  • 322,923
  • 89,118
2017
  • 55,180
  • 170,644
  • 242,790
  • 85,806
2016
  • 23,000
  • 150,787
  • 180,613
  • 105,248
2015
  • 17,322
  • 150,218
  • 123,409
  • 127,364
2014
  • 9,317
  • 99,202
  • 99,715
  • 111,559
2013
  • 5,259
  • 85,148
  • 77,774
  • 125,215
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While 2020 saw the most significant year-over-year increase of 38% in accounts requested, 2021 saw an additional increase of 25% - from 1.3M to 1.6M.

Between 2013-2021, Meta hosted the most accounts that interested authorities among all four companies (2.8M) - or two out of five accounts requested during this time (6.6M). On the other end of the scale, Apple held the fewest requested accounts - 416K - or just 6% of total accounts of interest to authorities.

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 2021.

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

Countries with a population of less than 1M were not included. Countries with a population of less than 1M were not included.
6,626,040 The number of accounts in user data requests from 177 countries to Apple, Google, Meta, and Microsoft from 2013 to 2021.
1,616,592 The number of accounts in user data requests in 2021 alone. This amounts to a quarter of the nine-year total.
2,451,077 The number of accounts affected by user data requests by the US authorities from 2013 to 2021. More than a third (37%) of the total account requests came from the US authorities.

The US and the EU governments request user data the most

The US tops the list with nearly 1 account per 100 people throughout 2013-2021. Looking at the top 10, five countries are from the EU. Singapore, the U.K., Australia, and Taiwan comprise the rest.

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

Country Population (2021) Accounts specified in requests
(2013-2021)		 Accounts per 100k population
(2013-2021)		 Region
1. U.S. 336,495,769 2,451,077 728.41 Northern America
2. Germany 83,390,320 540,562 648.23 Western Europe
3. Singapore 5,926,220 35,980 607.13 South-eastern Asia
4. U.K. 67,167,774 391,835 583.37 Northern Europe
5. France 64,502,346 343,362 532.32 Western Europe
6. Ireland 4,967,164 19,648 395.56 Northern Europe
7. Portugal 10,297,984 36,958 358.89 Southern Europe
8. Belgium 11,582,160 36,683 316.72 Western Europe
9. Australia 25,795,922 81,422 315.64 Australia and New Zealand
10. Taiwan 23,842,033 73,569 308.57 Eastern Asia
11. Estonia 1,329,802 4,060 305.31 Northern Europe
12. South Korea 51,831,253 157,387 303.65 Eastern Asia
13. Brazil 213,827,672 580,565 271.51 Latin America and the Caribbean
14. Israel 8,829,385 22,492 254.74 Western Asia
15. Poland 38,378,767 96,887 252.45 Eastern Europe
16. Switzerland 8,670,795 21,274 245.35 Western Europe
17. Sweden 10,416,525 23,935 229.78 Northern Europe
18. Norway 5,391,723 11,359 210.67 Northern Europe
19. Italy 59,361,259 122,291 206.01 Southern Europe
20. Netherlands 17,466,838 31,896 182.61 Western Europe
21. Spain 47,397,660 84,177 177.60 Southern Europe
22. Lithuania 2,804,633 4,829 172.18 Northern Europe
23. Turkey 84,459,174 127,404 150.85 Western Asia
24. Greece 10,481,118 15,173 144.77 Southern Europe
25. Argentina 45,163,623 62,273 137.88 Latin America and the Caribbean
26. Austria 8,914,448 12,116 135.91 Western Europe
27. Hong Kong 7,500,008 9,787 130.49 Eastern Asia
28. New Zealand 5,095,771 6,253 122.71 Australia and New Zealand
29. Canada 38,019,178 42,684 112.27 Northern America
30. Finland 5,533,721 5,970 107.88 Northern Europe
31. Czechia 10,523,996 10,995 104.48 Eastern Europe
32. Hungary 9,731,025 9,889 101.62 Eastern Europe
33. Chile 19,393,941 18,671 96.27 Latin America and the Caribbean
34. Denmark 5,840,504 4,760 81.50 Northern Europe
35. North Macedonia 2,108,119 1,488 70.58 Southern Europe
36. India 1,402,807,867 823,333 58.69 Southern Asia
37. Serbia 7,331,946 3,847 52.47 Southern Europe
38. Slovenia 2,119,030 1,109 52.34 Southern Europe
39. Croatia 4,079,100 1,954 47.90 Southern Europe
40. Mexico 126,386,142 59,141 46.79 Latin America and the Caribbean
41. Latvia 1,886,860 825 43.72 Northern Europe
42. Romania 19,394,347 7,184 37.04 Eastern Europe
43. Bosnia and Herzegovina 3,295,841 1,072 32.53 Southern Europe
44. Kosovo 1,666,259 512 30.73 Southern Europe
45. Costa Rica 5,140,851 1,517 29.51 Latin America and the Caribbean
46. Cyprus 1,241,296 362 29.16 Western Asia
47. Colombia 51,244,297 14,755 28.79 Latin America and the Caribbean
48. Jordan 11,040,365 3,128 28.33 Western Asia
49. Guatemala 17,494,265 4,781 27.33 Latin America and the Caribbean
50. Dominican Republic 11,059,980 2,810 25.41 Latin America and the Caribbean
51. Ecuador 17,690,028 4,010 22.67 Latin America and the Caribbean
52. Slovakia 5,455,809 1,179 21.61 Eastern Europe
53. Uruguay 3,429,902 638 18.60 Latin America and the Caribbean
54. Japan 124,946,751 22,127 17.71 Eastern Asia
55. Albania 2,861,567 504 17.61 Southern Europe
56. Moldova 3,074,670 447 14.54 Eastern Europe
57. Armenia 2,798,721 334 11.93 Western Asia
58. Bulgaria 6,938,114 797 11.49 Eastern Europe
59. Nepal 29,698,028 3,355 11.30 Southern Asia
60. Pakistan 229,280,621 25,425 11.09 Southern Asia
61. Panama 4,323,252 449 10.39 Latin America and the Caribbean
62. Georgia 3,762,641 376 9.99 Western Asia
63. Peru 33,519,231 3,122 9.31 Latin America and the Caribbean
64. Russia 145,472,994 10,394 7.14 Eastern Europe
65. China 1,425,861,543 95,196 6.68 Eastern Asia
66. Paraguay 6,664,351 419 6.29 Latin America and the Caribbean
67. El Salvador 6,304,540 347 5.50 Latin America and the Caribbean
68. Morocco 36,888,700 1,882 5.10 Northern Africa
69. Mongolia 3,322,207 149 4.48 Eastern Asia
70. Kuwait 4,252,528 166 3.90 Western Asia
71. Malaysia 33,396,348 1,208 3.62 South-eastern Asia
72. Sri Lanka 21,746,997 772 3.55 Southern Asia
73. U.A.E. 9,327,028 319 3.42 Western Asia
74. Ukraine 43,728,640 1,475 3.37 Eastern Europe
75. Qatar 2,692,140 79 2.93 Western Asia
76. Bangladesh 168,414,908 3,538 2.10 Southern Asia
77. Thailand 71,561,955 1,435 2.01 South-eastern Asia
78. Lebanon 5,631,325 111 1.97 Western Asia
79. Azerbaijan 10,296,374 184 1.79 Western Asia
80. Belarus 9,606,437 167 1.74 Eastern Europe
81. Palestine 5,076,818 75 1.48 Western Asia
82. Bahrain 1,460,905 20 1.37 Western Asia
83. Trinidad and Tobago 1,522,394 18 1.18 Latin America and the Caribbean
84. Eswatini 1,187,088 14 1.18 Sub-Saharan Africa
85. Oman 4,497,661 46 1.02 Western Asia
86. Botswana 2,569,263 26 1.01 Sub-Saharan Africa
87. Tunisia 12,217,195 101 0.83 Northern Africa
88. Honduras 10,201,736 80 0.78 Latin America and the Caribbean
89. Venezuela 28,352,075 187 0.66 Latin America and the Caribbean
90. Indonesia 272,890,093 1,532 0.56 South-eastern Asia
91. South Africa 59,137,710 324 0.55 Sub-Saharan Africa
92. Ivory Coast 27,146,007 146 0.54 Sub-Saharan Africa
93. Kenya 52,511,349 275 0.52 Sub-Saharan Africa
94. Iraq 43,071,016 223 0.52 Western Asia
95. Philippines 113,094,332 584 0.52 South-eastern Asia
96. Sudan 45,052,904 185 0.41 Northern Africa
97. Senegal 16,656,773 53 0.32 Sub-Saharan Africa
98. Puerto Rico 3,262,911 9 0.28 Latin America and the Caribbean
99. Kazakhstan 19,097,429 49 0.26 Central Asia
100. Madagascar 28,571,222 69 0.24 Sub-Saharan Africa
101. Mauritius 1,298,695 3 0.23 Sub-Saharan Africa
102. Sierra Leone 8,327,732 19 0.23 Sub-Saharan Africa
103. Nigeria 210,874,214 446 0.21 Sub-Saharan Africa
104. Malawi 19,633,241 40 0.20 Sub-Saharan Africa
105. Jamaica 2,826,398 5 0.18 Latin America and the Caribbean
106. Timor-Leste 1,310,236 2 0.15 South-eastern Asia
107. Bolivia 12,009,978 17 0.14 Latin America and the Caribbean
108. Saudi Arabia 35,764,241 48 0.13 Western Asia
109. Namibia 2,511,119 3 0.12 Sub-Saharan Africa
110. Ghana 32,511,557 36 0.11 Sub-Saharan Africa
111. Vietnam 97,093,774 100 0.10 South-eastern Asia
112. Cambodia 16,497,441 16 0.10 South-eastern Asia
113. Burkina Faso 21,813,359 20 0.09 Sub-Saharan Africa
114. Egypt 108,391,549 94 0.09 Northern Africa
115. Benin 12,819,427 9 0.07 Sub-Saharan Africa
116. Nicaragua 6,802,086 4 0.06 Latin America and the Caribbean
117. Togo 8,542,924 5 0.06 Sub-Saharan Africa
118. Iran 87,590,223 40 0.05 Southern Asia
119. Rwanda 13,305,392 6 0.05 Sub-Saharan Africa
120. Lesotho 2,268,596 1 0.04 Sub-Saharan Africa
121. Uzbekistan 33,809,850 14 0.04 Central Asia
122. Zambia 19,200,512 7 0.04 Sub-Saharan Africa
123. Cameroon 26,845,044 9 0.03 Sub-Saharan Africa
124. Uganda 45,123,359 15 0.03 Sub-Saharan Africa
125. Congo DR 94,374,379 22 0.02 Sub-Saharan Africa
126. Afghanistan 39,618,434 9 0.02 Southern Asia
127. Liberia 5,140,978 1 0.02 Sub-Saharan Africa
128. Myanmar 53,618,425 10 0.02 South-eastern Asia
129. Algeria 43,812,345 7 0.02 Northern Africa
130. Mozambique 31,635,726 5 0.02 Sub-Saharan Africa
131. Guinea 13,368,719 2 0.01 Sub-Saharan Africa
132. Mali 21,561,299 3 0.01 Sub-Saharan Africa
133. Tajikistan 9,643,597 1 0.01 Central Asia
134. Tanzania 62,637,070 4 0.01 Sub-Saharan Africa
135. Chad 16,910,218 1 0.01 Sub-Saharan Africa
136. Angola 33,957,975 2 0.01 Sub-Saharan Africa
137. Niger 24,785,587 1 0.00 Sub-Saharan Africa

Companies submit user data for more than two-thirds of requests

Percentage of partially or fully disclosed user data requests (accumulated yearly average)
  • Apple (81.6%)
  • Meta (71.7%)
  • Google (71%)
  • Microsoft (68.2%)
Percentage of fully or partially disclosed user data requests

On average, companies complied with 71% of user data requests between 2013 and 2021. Compliance (partial or full disclosure) with user data requests ranged from 66% to 73% over the years.

Apple complies with government requests the most,  submitting user data for around 82% of requests.

Company-level disclosure rate

2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Apple
Apple has led in disclosure rate since 2016, raising it from 76% in 2016 to 86% in 2021. While Apple’s average is 82%, the remaining three companies’ average is around 70%. More than half (57%) of all requests that Apple complied with had come from the US.
Google
Google’s disclosure rate has been decreasing until 2016 when it started climbing by around 3% every year. It peaked at 77% in 2021, placing Google 2nd behind Apple that year.
Meta
Meta’s disclosure rate was rising and peaked at nearly 75% in 2017. It has been slowly decreasing, although it remains significantly higher than in 2013 (72% vs. 63%).
Microsoft
Even though Microsoft’s disclosure rate has been decreasing throughout the nine-year period, it led the chart until 2016. Since 2018, it has complied with the least number of requests out of all four companies, with 2021 seeing an all-time low of 55%.
Apple
Apple has led in disclosure rate since 2016, raising it from 76% in 2016 to 86% in 2021. While Apple’s average is 82%, the remaining three companies’ average is around 70%. More than half (57%) of all requests that Apple complied with had come from the US.
Google
Google’s disclosure rate has been decreasing until 2016 when it started climbing by around 3% every year. It peaked at 77% in 2021, placing Google 2nd behind Apple that year.
Meta
Meta’s disclosure rate was rising and peaked at nearly 75% in 2017. It has been slowly decreasing, although it remains significantly higher than in 2013 (72% vs. 63%).
Microsoft
Even though Microsoft’s disclosure rate has been decreasing throughout the nine-year period, it led the chart until 2016. Since 2018, it has complied with the least number of requests out of all four companies, with 2021 seeing an all-time low of 55%.

Methodology

Report on Government Requests for User Data uses information from transparency reports published by four major tech companies - Apple, Google, Meta, and Microsoft. While also part of the “Big Five,” Amazon was excluded due to the lack of and/or inconsistency in reporting user data disclosure practices. The study identifies 177 countries whose government agencies have requested user data from these companies between 2013 and 2021. User data requests include two types of metrics - the number of requests a company receives from authorities and the number of accounts specified within them.

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, and requested accounts per 100,000 people in each country. Countries with less than 1M people were excluded from the ranking as these countries often are outliers in global distribution per population metrics due to small population numbers. Excluding countries and territories with smaller populations than 1M does not significantly impact global statistics as such countries account for under 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:
Meta Google Microsoft Apple

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