Yahoo received 139 requests for data from S'pore govt
In the first half of this year, Yahoo received 139 requests from the Singapore government for user information and acceded to just over half of them.
It provided subscriber information or non-content data (NCD) such as IP addresses, names, login details, billing data, and alternative e-mail addresses to 73 government requests, according to the Internet company's global transparency report released late-Friday. User-posted data was handed over for two cases, it added, noting that this included e-mail, chats sent over Yahoo Messenger, photos on Flickr, files or other data uploaded on any other Yahoo products.
No data was available for seven requests, and the remaining 56 were rejected.
Globally, Yahoo received a total of 29,000 government requests, with almost half originating from the U.S. government alone. Other nations highlighted in the report included Australia, Hong Kong, India, New Zealand, Taiwan, France, Germany, and Britain, where Yahoo operates a legal entity required to turn over data if requested.
According to the company, government requests for user information were generally associated with criminal investigations and had to be complied with as they were compulsory legal processes. "We carefully review government data requests for legal sufficiency and interpret them narrowly in an effort to produce the least amount of data necessary to comply with the request," it said.
Each government-led request would be processed in line with local laws, as well as Yahoo's local Terms of Service and privacy policy.