Facebook released, their
first ever, Global Transparency Report last week, bringing back the debate on
privacy and government’s request for user data, front and center. Facebook’s
effort, at shading (some) light on the issue of government demand for data, was received eagerly all around.
The social networking giant followed in the footsteps of Google, Microsoft and Twitter in this regard. Some pundits are lamenting that the report did not go far enough in revealing the full extent of such requests. Some felt outraged at the insatiable thirst of US Government for data…!
The social networking giant followed in the footsteps of Google, Microsoft and Twitter in this regard. Some pundits are lamenting that the report did not go far enough in revealing the full extent of such requests. Some felt outraged at the insatiable thirst of US Government for data…!
However, a quick look at statistics published by Facebook shows
that the requests made by the authorities in US is, more or less, at the same
level as those made by the other top 5 governments in the report.
The data on population, internet user and Facebook users have been taken from Internet World Stats. The number of requests and user account information is from Facebook's Global Government Request Report.
The percentages of the number of requests,
when viewed in the backdrop of Facebook user base in these countries, show a
remarkably close range (converging to an average of 0.0067%, or 67 request per
1,000,000 Facebook users)! It may be interesting to explore why this would be
so.
The % data on the Y-axis represent the number of requests/number of Facebook users and number of user accounts/number of Facebook users
In Law we trust!
The tech giants have stressed repeatedly that
they scrutinize such demands closely, and follow the law strictly. In some cases, they
point out, that they take the issue to the appropriate court too. Google and
Microsoft have banded
together to fight for more transparency than that allowed under FISA.
Perhaps adverse user perception is one of the real issues here. The popular opinion
received a sever setback due to recent revelations and secrecy surrounding the legal, executive and legislative oversight on the massive data dragnet.
Due process is guaranteed by Rule of Law.
Lifting the cloak of secrecy on the “due process” itself is probably the key!
No comments:
Post a Comment