Apple details which governments make the most data requests

To get some sense of the speed with which we’re hurtling into dystopia, it’s always worth taking a look at Apple’s latest Transparency Report; it shows the extent to which governments are requesting information about people, the ways in which they seek it, and the scale at which the requests are made.

The report itself is a little inexact — this particular edition has been updated with information covering January-June 2024, meaning we have no insight into data requests across the last 12 months.  There are also limits to what Apple can say. The company isn’t always permitted to be completely transparent in the information it shares about these requests, and in some territories it might no longer be permitted to decline some data requests.

The report has some concerning insights about the UK, where the government has decided people shouldn’t even be made aware of the extent to which it uses digital devices for state surveillance. 

Which nation makes the most requests per head?

Ignorance is bliss, I suppose — but US politicians are not at all happy with the UK approach. That’s not surprising when you consider that on first glance, at least, the UK as a nation makes far more requests per head of population than most other countries.

This indicates the extent to which the nation, already insisting on deeply unsafe backdoors into personal data, is using technology to monitor people.

Returning to the Transparency Report, Apple shares information concerning several categories of data request:

Device Requests

Financial Identifiers

Account

Account Preservation

Account Restriction/Deletion

Push Token

Emergency

US National Security

US Private Party

Digital Content Provider Requests

App Removal

The US continues to lead the world in the sheer number of such requests made. 

No other nation, not even China, makes anything like as many. You can see for yourself, but China (population 1.4 billion) made 1,212 device requests, 465 financial identifier requests and 398 account requests (and one emergency request) in the reporting period, while the US (with 340 million residents) made 12,043 device requests, 1,341 financial identifier requests, 12,812 account, and 793 emergency requests.

The UK (population 68 million) made 2,925 device requests, 138 financial identifier requests, 2,550 account, and 726 emergency requests. By those numbers, the UK makes more requests per head. 

Fun with numbers

Except, that isn’t quite true; while China made just 1,212 device requests, it specified 365,980 devices within those requests — and Apple complied with 96% of the requests.

In the UK, those 2,925 device requests specified 8,211 devices, and Apple complied 78% of the time. In the US, 42,747 devices were specified and 86% of those requests were met. 

Fun with numbers aside, it’s pretty clear that all three nations are united by their zeal to access this kind of information, more so than anyone else, except possibly Brazil. (Brazil, with a population of 211 million, made 8,776 device requests and specified 42,276 devices in those requests, to which Apple complied 78% of the time.)

Looking through the data, on the basis of the number of requests made per unit of population, the UK has the dubious distinction of being the most invasive government in the world.

Though it is important to note that Apple exists under different legislation in each nation, which means it may not be able to report some of the information it has — we just don’t know whether that is the case.

Top of the spooks

There are other highlights. The data shows a surge in US (and global) requests for Push Token data. This is data that can identify which device receives a specific notification from an app and can sometimes help access message content. The report reveals that requests for this kind of data have surged, but indicates Apple is approving fewer of them. Another trend seems to be an increase in requests for financial identifiers, which generally seek information concerning fraudulent transactions. Taiwan is the world champion in making such requests and Apple complies with 97% of those. The US, Japan, and Germany are also high in the list. 

Account requests are also increasing fast and in this category the UK is up there with Germany, Japan, China, and Brazil, with the US accounting for over half of all such requests worldwide. Data requests made in the cause of US national security have also increased. 

Transparency, where possible

Finally, while all this information is interesting, it really has to be read with a pinch of salt, since in at least some of these cases the information Apple is permitted to report may, or may not, enable it to be completely transparent with the information it shares. 

All the same, the implication is that data privacy continues to be something that must be fought for. “This is surveillance,” as Apple CEO Tim Cook told European privacy commissioners in 2018. Seven years later, of course, Europe is insisting Apple make your data more easily available to third-party firms. George Orwell’s book 1984 was, it seems, an instruction manual after all.

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