Google Transparency Report on Governments Requests regarding Data Disclosure

The Google Transparency Report for July to December 2010 revealed that the number of requests from Indian authorities for disclosure of data about Internet users and for removal of content from websites rose sharply during the period. The Transparency Report provides more data for analysis than in the past and emphasizes on the role played by governments in the deletion of content is among the additional features. Several democracies including countries with less tolerant regimes made similar demands on Google.

The report pointed out that the nature of the content sought to be scrubbed out set India apart from the genuinely liberal countries. Most of the removal requests pertain to allegedly defamatory postings on websites such as YouTube and Blogger, and specific web search results. The authorities targeted online content critical of Chief Ministers and senior officials of different States.

The resort to non-judicial processes to curb Internet freedom in the majority of cases pertaining to India was considered to be a disturbing trend.

The new rules framed under the Information Technology Act 2000 aim to dilute fundamental freedoms and usher in a culture of suffocating surveillance.

On content removal, Google pointed out that in the United States, it acted on court orders to remove material deemed defamatory. While in Britain, fraudulent advertising linked to scams was removed. As a result, Google’s compliance rate for these two counties was found to be high.

In case of India, its heavy-handed approach to scrub inconvenient speech off the Internet is earning it worldwide notoriety.

According to Google’s report, too much emphasis was placed by Indian authorities on creating comprehensive, inter-linked databases citing security, without giving sufficient thought to data protection. The new rules under the IT Act require the new rules under the IT Act require intermediaries such as cyber-cafes and Internet Service Providers to retain personal data for long, thereby increasing the likelihood of misuse.