According to the new transparency figures from tech giant Amazon. They have responded to a record number of government data demands in the last year.
According to the report data, 27,664 global requests in the last six months. 3,222 US requests in the first six months were processed on the demand. That makes it more than 30,000 demands in total. The data includes the shopping searches through website and app covers from the Echo, Fire, and Ring devices.
Amazon’s bi-annual transparency report also revealed that the majority of these demands came from Europe. Among them, Germany had accounted for the most demands, about more than 40% of the total demand. While 18% of demands came from Spain, 11% from the US, and 4% from the UK.
A spokesperson for Ring said: "Like many other companies, Ring receives and responds to legally binding law enforcement requests for user information that are not overly broad or otherwise inappropriate. At Ring, we are committed to being transparent about our privacy and security practices.”
Amazon said that the Information shared with governments can range from basic subscriber information, such as an address, a person’s name, and history of retail purchase, to private data like videos and photos.
Amazon also mentioned that it does disclose customer information if the government request complies “with a legally valid and binding order”. it doesn't include subpoenas. However, it includes Search warrants and court orders.
Amazon only granted “523” demands of the “30,886” data requests made from the government authorities.
