Spotlighting surveillance: Where states can lead on transparency reporting

September 17, 2014 - by Peter Micek.

At their best, ‘transparency reports’ can reveal the scope and scale of surveillance online. Generally, they include aggregate statistics of requests that governments issue for user data, giving details like the type of request, why it was issued, and whether the recipient complied. They’re one of the proactive ways that companies, governments ­­ really any entity dealing with user data ­­ can speak directly to users about privacy and free expression online. To date, however, States have lagged far behind when it comes to reporting on their surveillance activity.