Belgian authorities asked Twitter for information on an account holder 5 times in the first half of this year. The microblogging site obliged twice, giving them part or all of the information requested, Twitter’s semestrial transparency report reveals. On a global scale, Twitter noticed a 52% increase in requests for information during the first half of 2015. Authorities seem to be getting more curious about the data the company has, especially when it might relate to penal investigations.
The company received a total of 4,363 requests, concerning 12,711 user accounts, in 6 months. More than half of the requests come from the United States. 412 requests came from Turkey, but Twitter rejected all of these.
Belgian authorities asked Twitter for information three times between 2012 and the end of 2014. Twitter refused twice.
The five requests at the beginning of 2015 were all “Emergency Disclosure Requests”, which means Belgian authorities thought the information could save lives or stop someone being seriously hurt.
(Source: Belga)
