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Google has admitted that it provided the Hong Kong authorities with consumer facts, creating it the initial US tech huge to disclose its compliance with requests from the authorities just after a nationwide security legislation that criminalises protests was brought into effect last June.
Google past year pledged to stop responding to any ask for for consumer info from the Hong Kong authorities, except they arrived via the US Justice Section, as claimed by the Hong Kong Free of charge Push (HKFP).
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Having said that, Google has given that revealed that it “produced some data” for 3 out of the 43 requests it acquired from area authorities for consumer information involving July and December past 12 months.
The company mentioned one particular of the requests was for an crisis disclosure involving a credible threat to lifestyle, when the other two associated human trafficking. Google included that the two requests had been unrelated to nationwide security, were supported by search warrants signed by a justice of the peace as element of an investigation, and had been processed according to the company’s world wide coverage on authorities requests for user information and facts.
Last 12 months, Google claimed it would not answer to consumer details requests from the area federal government except if they were created by the bilateral Mutual Authorized Aid Treaty (MLAT) with the US Justice Office. The business claimed the 3 requests in Hong Kong ended up not manufactured by the treaty and additional that unexpected emergency requests involving threats to daily life are not necessary to go by way of the treaty.
42 of the lawful requests it obtained associated 46 user accounts, whilst the one particular crisis disclosure ask for associated a solitary account. Google additional that it nevertheless needs the huge the greater part of Hong Kong federal government requests to be processed by way of diplomatic strategies, which includes any nationwide security legislation-similar requests. Nevertheless, it did not verify regardless of whether it had notified the 3 people in the requests that it experienced furnished the authorities with their data.
IT Pro has contacted Google for comment.
In July past 12 months, Microsoft, Google, Facebook and Twitter suspended the processing of person knowledge requests from the Hong Kong authorities next the implementation of a new security legislation that criminalises protests. Google revealed at the time that the community government asked for facts from Google consumers 105 occasions in 2019 by itself.
Some pieces of this write-up are sourced from:
www.itpro.co.uk