Belgium's government agencies request three times more user data from Big Tech companies (Apple, Google, Meta and Microsoft) than the global average, according to the latest report by cybersecurity company Surfshark.
Over ten years, Belgium requested 44,408 accounts to be disclosed by Apple, Meta, Google and Microsoft. With 382 disclosure requests per 100,000 people, the country requested over three times the global average (115/100,000) and ranks tenth in the world.
"While authorities must have tools to combat serious crimes, it is also important to ensure that these measures do not infringe on the fundamental right to privacy," said Goda Sukackaite, Privacy Counsel at Surfshark. "The research shows that government requests for user data have increased significantly."
Across the world, 190 countries requested almost 9 million accounts combined from Apple, Google, Meta, and Microsoft between 2013 and 2022, with a steady increase in the latest years. The number of accounts requested increased more than eight times, with 2022 experiencing an increase of around 38% from the previous year.
The cases of requests may be related to criminal investigations, as well as civil or administrative cases when digital evidence is needed. Over these ten years, companies fully or partially disclosed data from 23,000 requests.
The overall disclosure rate in Belgium is 81%, with Meta and Google receiving the highest number of account requests from the country's authorities. While Amazon is also part of the 'Big Five' tech companies, it is not included in the study due to its "inconsistent or absent reporting" on user data disclosure practices.
Disclosure rate
The US and EU account for 58% of all accounts of interest in the ten-year period. With a total of 3,338,876 requests, the US requested more than double the accounts per 100,000 people than all EU countries combined.
Looking at the top 10, half of the countries are from the EU (Germany, France, Ireland, Portugal, and Belgium). Singapore, the UK, South Korea, and Brazil comprise the rest. Countries with fewer than one million people were excluded from the ranking for statistical accuracy.
Globally, the overall disclosure rate is around 72%. Apple has been leading in disclosure rates since 2016, raising them from 75% in 2016 to 83% in 2022.
The full report can be found here.
