Meta, Apple, Google and Microsoft are often accused of collecting and selling the personal data of their users. Government requests for such personal user data are on the rise globally, according to a new study by Surfshark.
The study focuses on the time period from 2013 to 2021, with a 38% year-on-year growth in 2020 being the most prominent, followed by a 25% growth in 2021. Meta, Microsoft, Apple and Google are the four large tech companies considered during the investigation, with Meta being the account of most interest to government authorities.
Two of the five accounts hosted by Meta were requested during the study period (6.6 million). 60% of requests came from US and European authorities. The U.S. requires more than twice as many accounts per 100,000 users as all of the EU countries combined.