Apple Reveals Governments’ Requests For Data: United States Tops The List With Most Requests [MAPS]

United States’ law enforcement agencies made 3,542 requests for data from Apple in the six months ended June 2013. These requests involved more than 8,000 Apple devices, including iPhones, Apple revealed in a just-released disclosure report.

Apple receives two kinds of requests for data from governments -- requests for information about Apple accounts, and requests for information to do with specific Apple devices such as iPhones. Apple said that most common requests involve robberies and other crimes or when law enforcement is searching for missing persons or children, kidnapping victims or trying to prevent a suicide.

In addition to requesting data on more than 8,000 Apple devices, U.S. law enforcement also requested data on more than 2,000 Apple accounts, making the U.S. the government that requested the most data from Apple.

Apple complied with 88 percent of all requests pertaining to specific Apple devices, according to the disclosure report. However, the tech giant did not reveal what percent of U.S. government requests it complied with.

The United Kingdom, the government to make the second-highest number of account-information requests, asked Apple for data on only 141 accounts.

Brazil made a relatively small number of requests to Apple, but it asked for a very large quantity of data -- Brazilian law enforcement made only 34 requests for data pertaining to specific Apple devices, but it asked for info on more than 5,000 devices within those requests.

European governments including France, Italy and Germany also requested data for a relatively large number of Apple devices.

Here’s a map of all the governments that requested data on Apple devices. The area of the bubble indicates the number of devices for which data was requested. Click on any bubble for more info:

Here’s a map of all the governments that requested data on Apple accounts. The area of the bubble indicates the number of accounts for which data was requested. Click on any bubble for more info: