Google on Wednesday released a substantial update to its periodic Transparency Report, a public tally of the number of requests for users’ private information Google receives from various government agencies and law enforcement bodies around the globe.
The update is significant primarily for U.S. users of Google’s many websites and services, from Gmail to YouTube to Google’s Chrome browser, as it now shows in detail the exact types of government requests for user information it has received, categorizing them as “Subpoena,” “Search warrant,” or “Other.”
“We’re always looking for ways to make the report even more informative,” wrote Richard Salgado, Google’s legal director for law enforcement and information security, in an official company blog post published Wednesday morning.
The new, more detailed report provides a look at which specific legal tools U.S. government agencies turn to when attempting to obtain information about Google users and their Web activities, which tools are favored above others, and how many individual users have had their data probed.
