Google says government requests 'up 120%' in four years

Google has said the number of requests it has had from governments to share information about its users has gone up by 120% in the past four years.

The rise was blamed on an increase in users, but the company also said more governments were starting to "exercise their authority to make requests".

In releasing the data the search giant renewed its calls for government surveillance reform.

Last year, 53,356 requests for data were made globally, Google said.

The majority of requests come from the US - but the figures do not include bulk surveillance carried out by the country's National Security Agency (NSA).

Google has been publishing the twice-yearly Transparency Report since 2009.

- BBC.co.uk