Update: A Google spokesperson has written back, saying that "As per the local criminal laws in India, we do not inform users of their data being shared with the authorities. As it can be seen as aiding in the destruction of evidence." Earlier Today: Between July and December 2010, Google received 1699 requests for disclosure of user data from the Indian government, and it complied with as much as 79% of the requests, the company has revealed as a part of its Global Transparency report. The company hasn't revealed the nature of these requests or the exact nature of the data it shared, but the increase (over this six month timeframe) is a sharp jump over the 1430 requests between Jan and June 2010, and 1061 between July and December 2009. 79% compliance is alarmingly high, and we've asked Google for a clarification on whether the users were informed by the company about their data being shared - in our opinion, ethically, that would be the right approach. On its website, Google says that the number of requests for criminal investigations increased year on year, but it clarifies that it " didn’t necessarily include requests that were addressed to the wrong Google company. We review each request to make sure that it complies with both the spirit and the letter of the law, and we may refuse to produce information or try to narrow the request in some cases." Also read: What the Home Ministry's Communcations Monitoring Tender tells us. Blocking…
