Facebook user data requests from India soar in H1

NEW DELHI: Social media platform Facebook on Friday said India made the highest user data requests after the US in the first six months of 2020.

The government made 35,560 user data requests during the period, which was significantly higher than the 26,698 queries made a year ago. While 2,186 emergency requests were made during the period, legal process-related requests were 33,374.

Facebook provided data in 50% of the total requests received.

There was also an increase in government requests to preserve account information, pending formal legal process. In the January-June period, India asked for 4,100 accounts to be preserved, up from 2,500 in the earlier reported period.