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Google's Transparency Report 2011 Reveals Which Countries Request Most Information About Users

The 11 Snoopiest Governments, According To Google
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Google regularly receives requests from governments around the world, asking them to remove content and fork over user data.

In its recently published Transparency Report, Google reveals which countries place the most requests for information about users and for removal of content.

Content-removal requests can vary dramatically from country to country, depending on local laws. While many requests occur over alleged defamation, hate speech or pornography law violations, others are just, well, snoopy.

United States, for example, submitted more than 4,000 requests in just six months last year.

See who else topped the list of countries requesting the most information from Google between January 2010 and July 2010.

11. Argentina(01 of11)
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Number of data requests from Argentina: 134. Number of removal requests: 12. (credit:Flickr:eMaringolo)
10. South Korea(02 of11)
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Number of data requests from South Korea: 170. Number of removal requests: 94. (credit:Flickr:Camera on autopilot)
9. Australia(03 of11)
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Number of data requests from Australia: 200. Number of removal requests: 14. (credit:Flickr:Christian Haugen)
8. Spain(04 of11)
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Number of data requests from Spain: 372. Number of removal requests: 16. (credit:AP)
7. Italy(05 of11)
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Number of data requests from Italy: 651. Number of removal requests: 69. (credit:AP)
6. Germany(06 of11)
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Number of data requests from Germany: 668. Number of removal requests: 124. (credit:Getty)
5. France(07 of11)
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Number of data requests from France: 1,017. Number of removal requests: 25. (credit:Flickr:loran)
4. United Kingdom(08 of11)
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Number of data requests from the UK: 1,343. Number of removal requests: 48. (credit:Getty)
3. India(09 of11)
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Number of data requests from India: 1,430. Number of removal requests: 30. (credit:Flickr:rednivaram)
2. Brazil(10 of11)
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Number of data requests from Brazil: 2,435. Number of removal requests: 398. (credit:Flickr:.v1ctor.)
1. United States(11 of11)
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Number of data requests from the United States: 4,287. Number of removal requests: 128. (credit:Getty)

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