This post was written by Katitza Rodriguez, EFF and Olivia Solis, SHARE Defense

EFF is excited to announce this, a visual collaboration with SHARE Defense, a new international advocacy group created by the Balkan Share Foundation this year with the goal of engaging in public policy debates concerning digital rights and promoting  positive values of openness, decentralization, and free access. Blending the expertise of  lawyers, policy analysts, activists, artists, and technologists, SHARE  Defense's mission is to stop the oppression, censorship, and surveillance  of future generations. The activities of SHARE Defense are supported  by cooperation and friendship with a wide network of various  institutions, individuals and organizations. As a watchdog organization SHARE Defense will critically monitor the activities of governments in Serbia and Balkan regions and provide policy support to any social, technological, and regulatory change which could affect our  digital rights.

Earlier this year, Google released its semi-annual transparency report. With each release, we have gained new insight into the massive quantity of user-data requests the search giant receives from states around the world. As part of our mission to spotlight the secrecy surrounding state surveillance, EFF and SHARE Defense have released three different charts highlighting trends in increasing state demands for user data.

These charts below examine how total user data requests have increased and which countries and geographic regions are responsible for  producing the greatest proportion of user-data requests. We commend Google for collecting and publishing these reports, which provide an invaluable portrait of the international thirst for private user information, and are glad that other companies are considering or moving forward with similar reports.