SA government requests user info from Facebook, Google

The South African government had over the past year submitted 14 requests to Facebook and three to Google to get information about certain users, Beeld reported.

Facebook did not grant any of the requests, and Google granted one request, after receiving a court order in a case involving defamation.

Following Google’s example, Facebook has just published its first half-year report on government requests.

According to the report, 71 countries around the world submitted about 25,600 requests during the first half of the year to Facebook to obtain IP addresses, profile information and names.

Locally, the Facebook requests were made by various law enforcement agencies such as the police, the Hawks and the Department of State Security, said the department’s spokesman, Brian Dube.

“Our department made two requests to Facebook centred around cyber security.”

According to Facebook and Google, the merits of each request are thoroughly considered before the information is released.

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