Governments are demanding more and more of your data from Facebook

Facebook has reported that the number of requests for its users' data from intelligence and security agencies rose by 24 per cent in the first half of this year.

The social network has released its third global Government Requests Report and found there were 2,110 data requests in the UK alone - an increase of 204 from the last six months of 2013.

Requests in the UK had seen a slight decrease in the second half of last year before rising again, a trend which was replicated in countries like the Germany and Italy.

The report also shows that requests have continued to rise in countries like France, Australia and the US, the latter having by far the most requests.

Earlier this week Robert Hannigan, the Director of GCHQ, Britain's signals intelligence service, wrote in the Financial Times (£) that social networks like Facebook and Twitter were becoming "command-and-control networks of choice for terrorists and criminals".

He said that technology companies should be doing more to help governments tackle serious crime and terrorism.

Privacy has never been an absolute right.

• Robert Hannigan, Director of GCHQ

However, in an accompanying statement to its latest report, Facebook emphasised its determination to protect the privacy of users as strenuously as possible within the parameters of the law.

Citing a request from the authorities in New York for the full details of 400 users, the statement said: "Overly broad warrants violate the privacy rights of the people on Facebook and ignore (US) constitutional safeguards against unreasonable searches and seizures."

While we recognise that governments need to take action to protect their citizens’ safety and security, we believe all government data requests must be narrowly tailored, proportionate to the case in review, and subject to strict judicial oversight.

• Facebook statement

Facebook's report reveals the number of requests received by authorities, the number of accounts specified in those requests, and the percentage of requests in which they were required by law to disclose at least some data. Some data is held back in the US for national security purposes.

They say most of the requests relate to criminal cases, such as robberies or kidnappings and often require basic information such as names and registration dates, although others are for IP address logs and account content.

Other requests also ask the site to restrict access to certain pages or posts to abide by local laws - for example due to Holocaust denial, which is illegal in Germany, court injunctions in the UK, or anti-blasphemy legislation in Pakistan.

More: Facebook does not want you to see these boobs

More: The brand new Facebook privacy tool you didn't know you needed

More: Q&A - The government's emergency surveillance law

More: This is how you can expose Isis using Twitter and Google Earth