[LINK] www.google.com/governmentrequests

[stephen at melbpc.org.au]

Google exposes government takedown and data requests 

by ASHER MOSES  April 21, 2010 - 12:13PM
<http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/google-exposes-
government-takedown-and-data-requests-20100421-stas.html>


In just six months, Google received 155 requests from the Australian 
government for users' personal data and 17 government requests to remove 
content from its services.

Of those requests, which occurred in the six months to December 31 2009, 
it complied with just 52.9 per cent. Fourteen of the content removal 
requests relate to YouTube, while there were one each for Blogger, web 
search and maps (except Street View).

The search giant revealed the numbers, which do not include child porn 
removal requests, in a new online tool: www.google.com/governmentrequests
breaking down how often countries around the world ask the company to 
hand over user data or censor information.

The move comes after recent censorship battles between Google and the 
Communications Minister, Stephen Conroy, who recently attacked the 
company over its strident opposition to the government's plans to censor 
the internet.

Google also recently baulked at Senator Conroy's request for it to apply 
the government's filtering policy to YouTube.

"There's been a very rigorous debate [about censorship] in Australia ... 
we really wanted to start a conversation with some data," Google deputy 
general counsel Nicole Wong said in a phone interview with this website.

Wong said some of the requests sought removal of multiple pieces of 
content. The company planned to release new figures every six months but 
acknowledged the data was less than perfect as the specific details of 
each content removal request are not provided.

"The issue around deciding to censor information requires some level of 
transparency, particularly in a democracy, for the people who are 
governed to be able to push back," Wong said.

Colin Jacobs, spokesman for the online users' lobby group Electronic 
Frontiers Australia, supports the move, saying it "gives a bit of insight 
into what can otherwise be a mysterious process".

The government has said its internet filtering policy would include 
transparency and accountability measures but Senator Conroy said he would 
stop short of releasing the blacklist of banned websites.

Brazil topped Google's list at the nascent Government Requests website, 
which indicated that officials there asked Google to filter content 291 
times between the beginning of July and the end of December in 2009.

Germany was second with 188 requests to remove data while India and the 
United States ranked third and fourth respectively with 142 and 123.

China was deliberately excluded from the list for legal reasons. Wong 
said regimes such as China and Iran "point to examples [of censorship] in 
Western countries" such as Australia when justifying their own, much more 
extreme, censorship.

"Government censorship of the web is growing rapidly: from the outright 
blocking and filtering of sites, to court orders limiting access to 
information and legislation forcing companies to self-censor content," 
Google chief legal officer David Drummond said in a blog post about the 
new tool.

"So it's no surprise that Google, like other technology and 
telecommunications companies, regularly receives demands from government 
agencies to remove content from our services."

Brazil also made the most requests for user information, with Google 
logging 3,663 requests. The United States was a close second place with 
3,580 requests for user data while Britain was third with 1,166.

"The vast majority of these requests are valid and the information needed 
is for legitimate criminal investigations," Drummond said.

"However, data about these activities historically has not been broadly 
available. We believe that greater transparency will lead to less 
censorship."

Google said it planned to update the website in six-month increments.

"We're new at this, and we're still learning the best way to collect and 
present this information," Google explained at the Requests 
website. "We'll continue to improve this tool and fine-tune the types of 
data we display."

The number of governments censoring the internet has grown from about 
four in 2002 to more than 40, according to Open Net Initiative figures 
cited by Google.

"Increased government censorship of the web is undoubtedly driven by the 
fact that record numbers of people now have access to the internet, and 
that they are creating more content than ever before," Google vice 
president of public affairs Rachel Whetstone said in a separate blog post.

"This creates big challenges for governments used to controlling 
traditional print and broadcast media."

The launch of the Government Requests tool came on the same day that 
officials from 10 nations sent a letter to Google's chief executive 
demanding that the California firm better defend people's privacy.

Canada's privacy commissioner Jennifer Stoddart said a collaboration of 
countries representing a total of 375 million people were "speaking with 
a common voice" to remind internet firms to obey each nation's privacy 
laws.

The letter was also signed by data protection officials from Britain, 
France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand and 
Spain.

"We are increasingly concerned that, too often, the privacy rights of the 
world's citizens are being forgotten as Google rolls out new 
technological applications," the letter stated.

The letter urges Google to set a worthy privacy example for other online 
firms.

- with AFP  Source: smh.com.au

--

Cheers,
Stephen