Google will charge the use of stored data
The company that owns the largest search engine in the world will demand a payment from the US government for sharing the information stored in police investigations
Google began charging government agencies in the United States that ask for access to user data as part of police investigations with amounts ranging between $ 45 and $ 245.
Previously, these processes were carried out free of charge, but due to the increasing number of government requests it decided to respond now with a rate card, which can be charged according to US law.
This measure is in effect since January 13th, as stated in the document in which Google explains it reserves the right to charge different prices depending on the case.
In the cases basic information of a user is provided, the Mountain View company will charge US agencies 45 dollars per request, while for responding to a court order 150 dollars will be requested, in this case Google provides a record with user information.
The request for which more money is required are the registration orders, for which Google charges $ 245, with user information and the history of his activity, while other procedures such as requests for police hearings cost $ 60.
According to the company’s latest data transparency report, in the first half of 2019 the US received more than 75,000 government requests to access data from 165,000 accounts worldwide. Of all of them, one in three came from the United States.
K. Tovar
Source: dpa
