News
Meta received over 800k user data requests from governments in 2022
June 2023 by Atlas VPN
According to recent findings by Atlas VPN, government requests for user data from Meta are on the rise.
Among countries, the United States government leads the way in terms of both the number of requests and the volume of user data requested.
The report shows that:
• 827,927 user data records were requested by governments worldwide from Meta in 2022 — a 16% increase compared to 2021 and a 971% rise since 2013.
• In total, Meta received 476,802 user data requests from governments worldwide.
• Meta disclosed at least some data in response to 76.45% of all requests.
• The US government requested data from 236,928 platform users, which equates to 70.04 requests per 100,000 people — more than any other country.
• Germany ranked second with 62.11 account requests per 100,000 people, followed by Israel with 60.50.
The numbers are derived from the Meta transparency report, which features the government requests for user data since 2013, including both routine legal processes and emergency disclosure requests. The user data requests include two metrics: the number of requests a company receives from authorities and the number of accounts specified within those requests.
The first part of the report discusses the overall statistics of government requests submitted to Meta from 2013 to 2022. The second part of the article overviews the countries that submitted the most requests in 2022. The research excludes countries with a population of less than 1 million people.
